Rules Just for You, Spacemonkey
by jackdanielz
Summary: Daniel makes an error off world, starting a chain of events he never expected. Father / Son relationship, NON SEXUAL SPANKING OF CHARACTER IN LATER CHAPTER TURN BACK NOW IF YOUR OFFENDED.
1. Chapter 1

"There are two bases of pillars with trilingual inscriptions in

"There are two bases of pillars with trilingual inscriptions in  
Old-Persian, Akadian and Elamite cuneiforms." Daniel spoke into his  
tape recorder as he examined the writings on the dusty surface,  
"Serious damage has been inflicted to the bases of the pillars,  
particularly their inscriptions. The writings are so effaced that they  
are now very difficult to decipher."

He leaned forward to carefully study the carved words on the old,  
dilapidated wall, "An evil force of incommensurable power, one which  
is possessed, not by men, but only by Gods came through the ring of  
darkness, with eyes that glowed like burning coal, a sinister gleam,  
the color of death. They brought destruction and desolation to the  
people of the Ahmead. Destroyed the homes of our ancestors, ravished  
our sacred land. Ultimately they took all away, our very own souls."

Daniel's eyes almost popped out of his head as he read on, "It tells  
the story of how this city was destroyed and their people enslaved by  
the Goa'uld, but whoever had survived and built this temple is  
probably long gone by now. The temple and the rest of the city look as  
if they've been deserted for a quite long time."

Keeping his flashlight primed on the walls and his camera recording it  
all as he went, Daniel went slowly down a narrow flight of steps  
leading to the lower levels of the monumental old temple, "Although  
for how long I won't be able to tell until I can make a deeper  
analysis of the... Oh..." Daniel's mouth went slack and his eyes  
opened even wider as he took in the large room that opened up before  
him, each wall filled with more of the ancient text.

"Oh... God... Apparently this is some sort of historical monument,  
some sort of legacy telling the story of the people that lived on this  
planet. How they lived and how they died. Seems the deeper I proceed  
into the temple, the further into their history I go." Taking in all  
the knowledge engraved on the high walls from top to bottom, Daniel  
just stood there for a long moment, awestruck, like a kid in a candy  
store. He just couldn't believe his eyes and the greatness of the  
treasure he'd found.

"It's amazing!"

oOo

"Daniel!" Yelled the Colonel into his radio, trying to be heard above  
the blasts bombarding him and the rest of his team, "Dammit, Daniel!  
Respond!" but only static came through. Concern for his friend took  
over and he snapped his radio off. He was muttering his frustration  
under his breath when a booming blast exploded at his side, sending a  
shower of debris cascading on top of him.

"Dammit! Carter!"

"More are coming through, sir! We have to leave., now!" she shouted  
back from her hiding spot a few feet away from him.

"Daniel isn't responding, Carter!" Jack shot back.

The look of shock that came over her was plain to see as she continued  
to fire at the advancing Jaffa.

"Maybe the walls of the temple are blocking radio waves."

"I don't think so, sir. Not unless," she faltered then.

The Colonel squinted at her warily, "Unless what, Captain."

She met his penetrating look with her own apprehensive one, "Unless  
he's gone to the lower levels, sir."

"Oh... for crying out loud, Teal'c!"

"Yes, O'Neill?"

"Cover me, I'm going to go get Daniel and by God, I swear, if he's  
moved into the damn lower levels I'm gonna skin him alive!" and with  
that, he sprinted from his hiding spot to the entrance of the huge  
ramshackle building a short distance away.

When he burst into the room there was nothing but dust and cobwebs in  
the old empty chamber.

"Daniel" he hollered, but there was no answer, only the echo of his  
desperate calls. That's when he saw the deep embedded boot-prints in  
the dirt ridden floor leading to the forbidden lower levels of the old  
crumbling temple.

Jack followed the trail and in complete exasperation, hissed under his  
breath, "For crying out loud, I'm gonna kill that kid!"

oOo

"Wow, I've never seen anything like this before, it's just amazing.  
The cultural resemblances of this society to some of the earlier..."  
Daniel's ramblings were cut short by a heavy hand grasping him by the  
scruff of his neck and hauling him to the bottom of the stairs leading  
to the upper level.

"What the hell do you think you're doing here when I expressly told  
you not to come near the place!." Daniel tried to squirm free of  
Jack's vice-like hold, but the Colonel had a death grip on his jacket  
and he was no match for the irate Air Force trained Colonel, so he  
opted for a different approach instead. He tried to use reason.

"Jaaaack! Waaait!" Daniel screeched.

Who knew his voice could go that high?

"Shut up, Daniel! Rest assured, we will talk! Only not now and  
certainly not here!"

"Believe me, not as important as what's going on outside, but of  
course, you wouldn't know, would you? While having been completely  
isolated from the rest of the team in this little room of yours for  
the past few hours, transfixed by the walls and ignoring direct orders  
by the way, it's completely understandable you don't have a clue  
what's going on in the rest of the world, Danny-boy." Without giving  
him the slightest chance to utter a single word, Jack slapped his  
radio on while keeping a firm grip on Daniel's Jacket.

"Carter, I've got him. Dial us out of this Godforsaken rock, now!"

"Understood, sir." the radio went silent and before Daniel even knew  
what was happening, Jack was dragging him up the steps and to the  
entrance of the temple.

"Wait, Jack! We can't leave yet! There's--"

"Not another word, Daniel."

"Stop treating me like a little kid, Jack, I--"

"Daniel, shut up!!"the younger man jumped at the force of Jack's  
command and was shocked into silence, "Now move!" his upper body was  
shoved downwards as Jack efficiently positioned Daniel's body  
protectively behind his own, making him keep his head lowered as he  
hauled him all the way to the now active wormhole. Daniel tried to  
peer up and see what was going on, but was forcefully shoved back  
downwards, "Keep your head down, Daniel!" and a few seconds  
afterwards, they were sailing across the galaxy back to the SGC.

oOo

Now the moment he had dreaded the most had finally arrived. They'd had  
their post mission examinations and attended the de-briefing with the  
General. Daniel had wanted to stay and work on his translations,  
research, reports anything, but going back home with Jack to the  
inevitable storm he knew was fast approaching. But before he could  
leave the briefing room, Jack had him firmly held by the arm and had  
dragged him all the way to the locker rooms and actually ordered him  
to change into his civvies. The younger man had wanted to point out  
that he was going to stay, but one look at the Jack's deeply set frown  
had convinced him otherwise.

Jack was really pissed with him this time and maybe he had a right to  
be, but Daniel honestly hadn't realized he'd ventured into the  
forbidden lower chambers. Although he really couldn't see why Jack  
would want to stop him from doing his job, because going into ancient,  
derelict buildings was his job and Jack's argument that it wasn't safe  
just didn't make sense. Daniel had looked out for himself for years  
before this, doing the same sort of things and he didn't have some  
sarcastic old colonel to look after him then and had managed just  
fine, plus the fact that he didn't see anyone stopping the SG teams  
from going through the gate just because it isn't safe.

No, in his opinion, Jack was being a little… no, correction, way, way  
overprotective. But what unnerved Daniel the most, was that Jack's  
overbearing-ness was mainly directed at him, like he was some little  
thoughtless child who needed constant supervision and it was very,  
very embarrassing. Actually, it was starting to grate on his nerves  
big time.

"Daniel! Are you even listening to me?!" Daniel was suddenly jostled  
out of his thoughts by the loud, demanding voice. He hadn't even  
realized Jack had been talking to him, was he supposed to say  
something? God, Jack looked even madder now. He couldn't help gulping  
loudly as the tall Colonel came forward, closing the distance between  
them, hands firmly placed on his hips and a murderous look on his face  
that said he was slowly losing whatever patience he had left.

"Well?" Prompted Jack in a low, deceivingly calm voice. Daniel  
swallowed hard again, unable to help the feeling of uneasiness that  
had settled in his stomach. God, Jack was really mad this time.

"Uhm... uh... I—uh—what was the question?" Jack shot daggers at him,  
and Daniel couldn't help lowering his head and fidgeting like a  
schoolboy. His long bangs effectively covering his face and the  
penetrating look Jack was directing his way. Damn! He hated it when  
Jack made him feel like he was ten all over again.

"Look at me, Daniel!!" He jumped startled at the suddenness of Jack's  
shout and shot his head up instantly responding to it.

"This is the last time, Daniel. The last time you disobey a direct  
order and put not only yourself at risk but the rest of the team."  
Daniel hung his head in shame, they had all taken a great risk waiting  
and looking for him when being overpowered by hundreds of Jaffa.  
"Don't you realize the danger you put yourself into. When I couldn't  
contact you I started fearing the worst, that those Jaffa had somehow  
captured you and killed you."

"I didn't know about the Jaffa, Jack." came Daniel's small reply.

"Oh... of course you didn't. You were buried under hundred's of tons  
of rock completely isolated from the rest of the team doing exactly  
what I told you not to do. Of course you didn't know!" Jack's voice  
gradually grew louder with each word, until he was practically  
shouting. Daniel cringed at the truth behind Jack's words. Maybe he  
had acted a little recklessly. But how could he have known that they  
were going to be attacked by Jaffa on a planet they had deemed, but a  
few hours earlier, safe for SG-1 to visit. And he said as much to  
Jack. And oh... boy, he should've left his mouth shut!

"Because, Daniel. I told you explicitly to stay away from the lower  
levels! Of course you couldn't have known we were going to be  
attacked; no one could've seen that coming... Hell, we'd deemed the  
planet completely safe before embarking on the mission. But you don't  
just follow orders when you feel like it, or when it suits you to!"  
Jack's face was now mere inches from his own now.

Jack sighed deeply, his shoulders sagging a little as he backed away.  
"Maybe this is as much my fault as it is yours. I should've done  
something about this a long time ago."

"Wha—what do you mean?" Now, he really didn't like the sound of that.

"Well, for starters. I shouldn't've let you get away with disobeying  
direct orders with a simple lecture. That obviously isn't making much  
of an impression. If it had been Carter instead of you pulling a stunt  
like that she'd probably be facing a court martial by now." Jack held  
up his hand forestalling his objection before it made it out of his  
lips. "I know, you're not military. Military discipline has no meaning  
to you, but that doesn't mean you'll get away with willful  
disobedience, Daniel. I going to be setting some rules, right now,  
just for you, Spacemonkey."

Daniel swallowed hard. He definitely didn't like the sound of that!

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

The ride home in the truck seemed long and painfully silent

The ride home in the truck seemed long and painfully silent. Jack had  
more a less, frog marched Daniel to the truck. The whole ordeal had  
been so embarrassing. Daniel had followed in Jack's wake when they'd  
made their way to the lifts, being glad of the opportunity to get  
there under his own steam at least.

When they'd got up top', Daniel had spotted a fellow archaeologist  
from the labs and had stopped to exchange pleasantries and a little  
information on something they'd been working on. That was until Jack  
had noticed Daniel wasn't behind him at the check point. Then things  
got ugly…

Un be known to Daniel, Jack had wandered up behind him looking to  
retrieve his, once again, wandering friend, only to overhear Daniel  
speaking to the other scientist about top secret information that Jack  
had not long before explained (rather forcefully), should only be  
discussed within the mountain.

Jack's temper had reached new heights as he realized what he was  
witnessing and swiftly grasped the back of Daniel's coat collar.  
Daniel had fallen speechless and looked like a deer-in-the-headlights  
again. Jack had leaned forward and whispered in a deathly calm tone,  
"Say goodbye to the nice scientist, Daniel and if you're talking about  
what I think your talking about, your going to be one very sorry  
little boy."

Seeing the look on the other scientist face, who had obviously seen  
the rather prickly colonel that was now attached firmly to his coat,  
Daniel had said his fumbled, self conscious goodbye and turned in the  
direction of the guiding grasp.

Jack had walked with such speed, Daniel had stumbled his way past the  
signing station as Jack had barked that he'd dealt with it, taking him  
directly to the truck, opening the door and nearly putting him bodily  
into the passenger seat.

Yep, Jack was now beyond pissed. This really didn't bode well,'  
thought Daniel and that's where he was now. Jack was pulling into his  
street and hadn't uttered a word.

A quiet Jack was never a good thing, Daniel new that for sure. A quiet  
Jack was mentally tallying up all Daniel's indiscretions, however  
small they may be.

Daniel considered that this was probably not one of his better days  
for being single minded and self absorbed. They were often his best  
and worst traits, depending on what he was doing.

Jack's harsh tone shook him from his musings, "Daniel, get in the house."

Daniel looked up; he hadn't even realized they'd stopped. Jack was  
hanging in the driver's door, his face still fixed and hard.

Unconsciously, Daniel mumbled a small, yes, sir' and fumbled to open  
the passenger door, exiting as quickly as he could. Seeing Jack head  
for the back of the truck to retrieve some work gear, Daniel made for  
the front door, thinking that maybe getting out of the way now would  
be fairer on both him and Jack.

o0o

Jack carried in the laptop bag from the truck, carefully looking for  
his wayward archaeologist. There was no sign of him. Jack was fairly  
certain that Daniel was using his over educated brain for once along  
with whatever sense of self preservation he actually had and was  
staying out of the way. Jack would let him, for now at least, other  
wise, there was a very good chance that Jack would kill the kid…very  
slowly.

Jack was far beyond annoyed, not only had his genius nearly got them  
all killed today, but he'd broken one of the biggest rules of the  
program. They may have been still in the perimeters of the military  
installation, but that so wasn't the point. NORAD personnel did not  
necessarily have security clearance for the SGC.

Jack sighed as he deposited his bag in his office before making his  
way to grab a beer from the fridge. He ruffled his hair and then slid  
the large doors open that led to the deck, it was still a beautiful  
day, great for a barbeque, but Daniel was never going to benefit from  
Jack's usual severe lecture followed by a manly bonding session. It  
was quite clear that wasn't working at all.

Jack had to take more direct action that would leave a lasting  
reminder with his young friend. The thought of losing Daniel actually  
sickened him to his gut. Daniel was the man that had saved him from  
himself, rescued his sole, started to stick the broken pieces of his  
heart back together, while firmly ensuring his own place in it. Daniel  
was firmly entrenched in Jack's being, in some way giving Jack another  
person that needed him to protect and care, to do what he was unable  
to do for his own flesh and blood. Jack never wanted to lose a family  
member again, not when he could prevent it. He'd never be able to  
forgive himself again; it would most certainly be his undoing.

Jack knew that Daniel accepted his worrying and nagging, all be it  
begrudgingly sometimes, but he always came back here, home, as Daniel  
had now started to call it, regardless of the older mans wrath. Jack  
had done his best to make the young man feel safe and cared for,  
something he was well aware that Daniel had always lacked in his life  
and having now lost his wife and the only real family he had known  
since his parents, Jack thought it was even more vital that Daniel  
knew that he belonged here and was wanted, even loved.

So this was it, Jack had started to feel for Daniel as he did for his  
own son. Differently in some respects, this wasn't Charlie after all,  
but the feelings where as strong, maybe stronger, enforced by the fact  
Jack had managed to lose one son because of, what he saw, as his own  
stupidity. And Jack wasn't willing for that to happen again, under any  
circumstances. If Jack could prevent any part of his little family  
from getting into trouble or being hurt, he knew he'd do what ever it  
would take. It just appeared it was going to take a little bit more  
with Daniel.

Daniel's sense of self preservation was non existent. He cared for  
every other living being, apart from himself. Somewhere along the way,  
Daniel's sense of self worth had been severely dented and Jack was  
determined to get it back. If it killed Jack, he'd get it back and if  
Daniel didn't like what Jack was planning, then the deal was off, Jack  
would retire. He'd never tell Daniel that, but he could never watch  
the kid kill himself by accident, or by any other means for that  
matter. Jack was a do'er, not a watcher, it wasn't in his nature. So  
this was make or break time for both of them. Jack was going to make  
an impression, either way, but hope to god Daniel would accept that  
Jack had an overwhelming paternal streak as far as Daniel was  
concerned and it had to be put out in the open…

Jack finished his cold beer and sighed deeply. He slid his sunglasses  
from his nose and placed them on the side in the kitchen as he dropped  
the empty bottle into the trash. It was now or never and Jack thought  
he had sufficient grip on his temper to be sure he wasn't going to do  
any actual killing.

#

Daniel was lounging on his bed, trying to read. He was surprised Jack  
hadn't started hollering at him yet, but then again, he hadn't really  
seen Jack look that pissed before, well, not in that way. Daniel had  
also considered just going out and eating, maybe coming in later, much  
later, but then again, an already pissed Jack trawling Colorado  
Springs looking for him wasn't really an attractive option either and  
Daniel knew that Jack would find him. It was the unspoken you can  
run, but you can't hide', thing.

Nope, face the music and make up after, that was how it worked with  
him and Jack. Jack being really over protective towards him still  
really bothered him, but maybe when this was sorted, he'd talk to Jack  
about it. Maybe Daniel was being over sensitive? After all, he'd never  
worked with a group of people and been this close to them before. On  
the whole, his work had been carried out in isolation.

"Daniel!"

The call echoed up the stairs and managed to inject fear into Daniel's  
heart. Why did Jack do that to him? He was a grown man, for god's  
sake, but then again, Jack was a fair bit older then Daniel and  
managed to wield authority over most people pretty effectively. So  
there was no surprise if you took that into consideration.

Daniel managed to get to his feet, but slid around on the wooden floor  
in his socks. Hearing a second more irate call from the foot of the  
stairs, he lurched for the hallway and nearly fell down the steps in  
his hurry.

Jack scowled.

Daniel looked back into the brown eyes, they reflected disappointment  
more than anything, but he'd wait and see.

"Sit down, Daniel."

Daniel watched the older man sit in the armchair, and followed,  
sitting at the end of the sofa. He felt a sinking feeling in the pit  
of his stomach, Jack was usually yelling by now and it was freaking  
Daniel out.

"We need to discuss rules of engagement, Daniel." Jack's face was  
fixed and nearly devoid of expression.

Daniel looked at Jack and frowned, "Jack?"

"The shouting doesn't work, Daniel. It doesn't matter what I say to  
you and it can't go on."

Daniels brow furrowed more, "But I always listen, Jack. I'm sorry…I."  
Daniel was stopped by Jack bolting from his seat and starting to pace.

"No, Daniel. You don't, the proof of that is plain to see. Your  
actions are more often than not, ill thought out and done to meet your  
own ends and that's when you're thinking. When your not, you can be  
tardy, thoughtless and childish, depending on the situation." Daniel  
tried to butt in, but Jack stopped him with a piercing glare as he  
turned on his heel and faced the target of his displeasure.

"You're a good man, Daniel. Caring, accepting, brave…self sacrificing  
and there's the hitch."

Daniel huffed at the accusations and sat back heavily in the chair,  
the fact that in more than a few ways Jack was right, narked him even  
more.

Jack sighed and took a seat next to Daniel; he could see the lowered  
blue eyes and the lip chewing and nearly smiled. Jack had seen  
teenagers sulk less and he knew Daniel well enough by now to no, that  
maybe, Daniel thought that Jack had a point and with that in mind the  
older man needed to strike while the iron was hot.

"You're grounded from gate travel for 2 weeks, Danny." Jack spoke  
quietly and resignedly.

Daniel's head shot up as he nearly fell from the sofa, "W-what? Two  
weeks? You're kidding, right?" Blue eyes flashed in disbelief at Jack  
as Daniel nervously pushed his long bangs away from his glasses with a  
shaky hand.

"Nope, not kidding and while you're grounded there, you can consider  
yourself grounded here too."

Daniel's look changed from disbelieving to astonished, "As in, no  
tv…movies, trips to the mall and friends around?" the sarcasm dripped  
from Daniel's every word and grated on Jack's good intention.

Jack was determined to make an impression if it killed him and the  
only way he could think of doing that was by enforced consequences,  
the old fashioned way. Daniel hadn't had a parental figure in his life  
in years and Jack suspected that that was the route of some of  
Daniel's inability to look after himself.

Jack fixed Daniel with a hard stare, "You want time out before or  
after we finish discussing this?"

Daniel shook his head and sneered, "You're not my father, Jack."

That was Jack's cue to make the impression he'd been thinking about,  
he'd taken enough attitude from his archaeologist for one day.

Jack leaned forward and took advantage of Daniel now sitting at the  
edge of the chair and grabbed his arm, tugging sharply.

Daniel not understanding what was going on, was thrown off balance and  
easily pulled into position across Jack's awaiting lap and held there  
with a firm grasp.

Jack heard the annoyed shout of his name from his intended target, but  
chose to ignore it for now, landing five swats to the upturned jean  
clad backside that now faced him.

"Hey! Argh! Owww, Jack! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Making an impression, Daniel," Jack lifted his arm and delivered  
another ten smacks, the thwacking sound intermingled with hollers of  
distress, annoyance and pain from Daniel.

As he finished up with the second round, Jack heard a distinct sniff,  
and the rigid, fighting form laying over his lap started to go  
slightly limp. Hoping for a newly attentive linguist, Jack tried to  
get Daniel to co-operate, "You ready to talk properly now, without the  
sarcasm?"

"Bastard," Daniel, hissed.

Jack was sure he heard a sob in there, but was unwillingly to take  
mouthy comments, so delivered another ten harder swats.

"Getting the idea, Danny?" Jack asked sarcastically, but he could feel  
the younger mans body relax further, any fight left, rapidly depleting  
and there where now definite sobs and hitches but still not a word spoken.

Jack decided he'd made his point and lifted his friend up. Daniel  
obviously sensed the movement and would have scrambled away, but Jack  
grabbed his arm, pulling the younger man close, next to him.

When Jack finally spotted the now speechless linguists face, his heart  
nearly broke; his cheeks where red and tear streaked, eyes down  
turned, hair sticking out in every conceivable direction. Jack pulled  
him into a fierce hug, hearing a hiss as Daniel's butt hit the chair.  
More interested in offering comfort than a padded seat, Jack tucked  
the younger mans head into his shoulder and rubbed his back vigorously  
as Daniel's sobs seemed to start again in earnest.

"I thought I'd lost you kid and every time something like that  
happens, it dredges up the horrors of the day I lost Charlie and I  
won't let that happen again, ever." Jack spoke quietly into Daniel's  
ear and hoped that Daniel would understand his actions.

"Um sorry, Jack," Came a mumbled reply from Jack's shirt.

"Me too, kiddo, me too," Jack felt Daniel start to pull away and then  
red rimmed tear stained eyes met his. Jack lent forward and passed  
Daniel a Kleenex from the box on the table.

Daniel took it and gave a weak smile, "I…nobody's done that to me in  
years…I-I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing, Danny. I was running out of options to make you  
listen, last resort and all that."

Daniel looked into the brown eyes, "But you're not my, dad and I'm  
nearly thirty."

Jack's look softened as he gave a wan smile, "No, Danny, I'm not…apart  
from when you want me to act like your father. I got news for you,  
kiddo. It works both ways ya know and the last I heard, it doesn't  
matter how big your kid's get, whether they're yours or someone else's  
you've took in."

Daniels brow furrowed, "But…I-I don't…it-it's not like that…I…" the  
words trailed off.

Jack could see Daniel's confusion, it had taken him a good while to  
get his feelings around this too, but he needed Daniel to understand.

"Who have you asked for help when you didn't know what to do or when  
you're in pain? Who sits with you through the nightmares, who drags  
you're sorry butt out of sticky situations?" Jack's gaze settled on  
the now very thoughtful looking Daniel.

Jack was his CO and friend, best friend, but it had become more than  
that. A closeness forged by tragedy had made a special family of SG1,  
but of all the parts of that family, Daniel was the young, innocent  
whose life experiences had ill equipped him for their new way of life.  
Isolation with in academic institutions and then on Abydos and without  
parental influence before that had been very telling on Daniel. He'd  
really never had anyone other than himself and then Sha're for a  
little while to think of and Jack could see it. Daniel was an amazing  
person, but at the rate he was going, he'd be an amazing dead person.

Daniel fiddled with his sleeve; god this was hard. Jack was right and  
Daniel didn't want to acknowledge it. He'd never let himself be as  
dependent on anyone in the way he was on Jack, not even as a child.  
Multiple foster homes and being so withdrawn for years had stopped any  
strong bonds being formed.

"So you accept, Daniel?"

Daniel could only nod, Jack wanted him to be safe after all and maybe  
he was right however embarrassing this felt. The weird thing was, it  
also felt right to have somebody care that much. He supposed that that  
maybe that was part of the reason he'd stayed around this long. He  
would have never have put up with this stuff from just anyone.

"I love you like a son, Danny."

Daniel was shocked by the declaration, but felt in his heart, it was  
reciprocated…his butt kinda felt pretty close to Jack too at the moment.

Daniel looked at Jack with a half smile and a ducked head, "I accept,  
Jack and I understand."

Jack returned the sincere smile, "So, dinner, a cushion and the rules  
then, Danny boy?"

Daniel's face changed to amazement…the rules? "W-what?" but Jack had  
already got up and left for the kitchen…

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

This is for poohbear123, who is apparently, very convincing! For you! Hope you all enjoy xx

* * *

While fidgeting around in the living room, mostly leaning against the fireplace, Daniel unconsciously rubbed his backside every so often. Daniel's thoughts wandered back to what had just happened and what he'd agreed to. There was no doubt about it; he was shocked that his best friend, Jack had given him a good old fashioned spanking.

Absently rubbing his butt again, he felt the radiating heat and partially regretted what he'd just agreed to.

"Supper's almost ready, Daniel" Jack announced from his perch over the saucepan.

Daniel sighed, 'great,' he thought. The last thing he wanted right now was to sit down and eat, aside from the fact that sitting down at the moment would be most uncomfortable, at best. Daniel sighed heavily. The thought of Jack setting rules for him and telling him off like some kid wasn't all that appealing either.

Although he had to admit part of him really wanted this to happen, not the spanking part, mind you, but having someone who cared about him, to feel loved and wanted again. It was something Daniel hadn't experienced in such a very long time now. In some way, he had always craved affection, right back to the time just after his parents had been cruelly snatched away from him, almost 20 years ago.

With all these thoughts going over his head, maybe Daniel was touchier than usual, and that's possibly what made him a little mouthy too.

"Why don't you set the table and I'll serve up, Danny? Supper's ready." Jack stirred the sauce one more time and took a small sip with a spoon, attempting his corny impersonation of an Italian chef.

"Sure. Why not? I'm in such a good mood today." Daniel muttered under his breath sarcastically.

Spotting Daniel making his way to the cutlery drawer, Jack hadn't missed the Daniel pulling funny faces to go with the sarcastic comments. Jack grabbed a spatula and crept up behind him using all of his stealthy skills.

Thwack! Daniel felt a sharp pain suddenly resonate through his already tender butt cheek. .Letting out an agonized yelp, the younger man scrambled out of Jack's reach as fast as he could.

Jack stood arms crossed, looking like the picture of a man who'd just won round two of the 'linguist verses colonel championship.' He smiled with saccharine sweetness and eyed Daniel as he spun around and blue intensely annoyed eyes met his own calm brown ones.

"I'd watch the attitude if I were you, mister. You're not completely off the hook, yet."

Daniel huffed and bit the inside of his lip to stop any other biting remarks coming out. Just his luck. Of all the times, Jack had to pick, he chose now to start listening to him.

Figures.

He mumbled a barely audible apology and was just about to sit down, carefully, in his place at the table, when Jack stopped him.

"Hold on, Danny."

Confused, Daniel darted his eyes about the room before finally resting his gaze on the older man who was depositing the offending spatula back on the kitchen counter.

"What?"

Jack held up a finger, signaling that he should wait and retreated back into the living room, throwing a quick request over his shoulder before exiting the room, "watch the pasta for me, will ya?" and he was gone, leaving Daniel standing there, wondering what had gotten into Jack this time.

When Jack finally appeared, he was sauntering back into the kitchen, a soft cushion in hand and a big smile on his face.

Daniel stared at Jack, still at a loss. Jack grinned and nonchalantly dropped the cushion on Daniel's chair. Realization struck and Daniel could feel heat flushing his face as the reason why he'd need the extra padding dawned upon him. Jack's smile widened, brown eyes warm with affection gazed in the linguist's direction as the older man made to take the spoon from Daniel's grasp. Taking Daniel completely by surprise, Jack reached out, ruffling Daniel's hair playfully, his bigger hand lingering for a moment on the back of Daniel's head before Jack went to dish up supper and gently pushed Daniel back towards the dining table.

Daniel winced as he sat at the dining table, even with the cushion, the intense burn brought on by physical contact nearly bought tears to his eyes. He felt like such a kid for taking this so badly and then crying all over Jack. He hadn't really cried like that with anyone since his parents, never felt able to, never wanted to.

Jack was taking a huge risk with this sort of reaction. Daniel could have taken this so much worse, kicked back and left, but he didn't want to. He didn't want Jack to be mad, but could understand the reasons behind it. Jack had said it after all, he was scared of losing Daniel because it reminded him of losing Charlie. Jack loved him like a son.

Daniel swallowed as a tear escaped down his cheek. How could anyone care for him like this after all these years? After all those families? After losing the most precious people in his life…his parents, his wife and make shift family on Abydos. He couldn't stop these thoughts swimming around in his head.

As unreasonable as it was, Daniel had always thought that he must be a bad person to have had such a thing happen to him at such a young age. It had haunted him for a very long time, but here was acceptance and love offered on a plate. His heart ached for his losses, but nearly choked him with the realization that Jack really did think of him as a son.

Some of Daniel's unruly feelings fell into place when Jack had uttered those words, because at that moment, that's exactly what Daniel wanted to hear. He wanted someone to take the risk with him, to love him unconditionally, regardless of how clever or stupid he was, regardless of the fact he was nearly thirty.

Without warning, deep brown eyes suddenly appeared in Daniel's line of vision, studying him and smiling. A rough hand reached out and rested on his arm.

"Danny?" The face turned from smiling to slightly concerned, "You okay?" Another virtually unnoticed touch and the stray tear was gently swiped from his cheek with a weathered thumb.

Daniel nodded and gave a wan smile, the small movement causing him to wince very slightly again.

"Come on, big guy, we're okay, right?" Jack gently cupped his chin before getting up stiffly, his knees cracking as he finally made it to his feet.

"Yeah, Jack. Was just thinking, that's all," Daniel grinned back at Jack concerned look, his heavy heart feeling a little lighter, "Dinner smells good, Jack. Do I smell pie for after?"

Jack returned the smile and shook his head, "Only if you eat all your dinner, Danny."

Daniel rolled his eyes, but felt Jack playfully cuff his head. "Danny," Jack spoke with mock sternness.

"Yeah, yeah, Jack. I'll get the stuff to set the table..."

**oOo**

Daniel picked at his slice of chocolate pie, his stomach churning in protest. Jack had already finished his portion and was silently eyeing him, probably suspecting he was dragging this out on purpose. Daniel really wasn't hungry anymore, but this was better than the alternative. He knew that as soon as he was done here, they were going to have one long, probably one-sided discussion and it was one he wasn't particularly looking forward to.

"So, how's the lesson coming along?" Jack was leaning forward on the table, a small grin gracing his rugged features as he made his nonchalant enquiry.

"'Urr?" Daniel's head popped up as he nearly flicked the small piece of pie from his fork across the table in suprise.

"Oh…. You know, you've been staring at that pie for well over an hour now, so I was wondering whether you were trying to teach it tricks or something." Jack leaned further forward and quickly snatched the plate from Daniel's grip, pretending to inspect the remaining crumbs with great interest.

"Hey!" Daniel hissed, tugging the plate back and glaring at the older man.

Jack just shrugged his shoulders.

"It's hardly been that long, Jack. I'm just trying to enjoy it." Daniel supplied with conviction taking a small bite of pie in the mean time to make his point and returning his gaze to the table top.

"Oh, of course and I think it's great, you know, that you're enjoying your desert and all but, we can't drag this out forever, Daniel." Jack gave him a meaningful look, Daniel squirmed under the hard stare, knowing that Jack knew exactly what he was doing.

Jack got to his feet slowly, never taking his eyes off Daniel's downturned face. "You've got five minutes, Daniel. Then I want your butt back in the living room, is that understood?"

Daniel raised his head at Jack's no nonsense tone of voice. "Oh… come on, Jack. What's the rush? Can't I just—"

"Daniel." _You're trying my patience, Daniel._

"Jack." _Just a little more time._

Beseeching blue eyes met stern, deep, brown ones, until finally Daniel broke the eye contact and sighed heavily, sagging his shoulders in defeat and resignation, he dejectedly got up, "Okay, let's get this over with. I wasn't that hungry anyway."

Jack shook his head at the slumped figure that now stood before him, "I figured as much."

Jack slid the plate back away from Daniel as the younger man placed the fork carefully down, nervously rubbing his hands together.

Jack gave a small smile and shook his head; anyone would think this was an execution rather than a discussion.

Daniel wavered on the spot before Jack gave an encouraging pat to his friend's shoulder.

"Let's get this over with, Daniel. You wanna watch some tv before bed, right?"

Daniel rolled his eyes and sat down on the sofa, "Ha, ha Jack, very cute."

Jack raised his eyebrows and sat down in the armchair. He sat back casually and crossed his long legs, "So, are we recalling how we ended up here, Daniel?"

Daniel twisted his face and gave Jack a sideways look, his head hardly moving from the position of staring at his twitching feet. Daniel licked his lips and then making a decision, looked straight at Jack, "I think you decided I'm not responsible enough to make my own decisions, Jack."

Jack didn't speak, only rose from his seat and made his way over to sit next to Daniel with a menacing look on his face. Daniel, for his part tried not to shrink away from the looming figure that sat close by him, but couldn't help the audible gulp as Jack turned, forcing Daniel to meet his gaze with a warning stare.

"Daniel?"

"I-I'm not a child, Jack," Daniel forced the stuttered words from his mouth, he was well aware of his mistake, but this kind of chat was so embarrassing and Jack never failed to make him feel like such a kid at the best of times anyway.

Jack's face softened a little, "I'm well aware of that, but your actions are just plain childish sometimes, Daniel. You just don't think before you act. Today is a perfect example and this has been going on for far too long. I care about you; we care about you; me and SG1. I for one am no longer willing to stand back and let you endanger yourself without thinking anymore. It's very noble, brave even, but sometimes its also just plain stupid. You never stop to consider the consequences of your actions and essentially there have never really been any ramifications for you apart from your own regrets. Seeing as it doesn't matter how many times I scream, shout, talk, discuss, debate and god knows what else, your actions with you, I've decided you need some rules to live by and some consequences to think about when you break those rules."

Jack paused and looked at Daniel's stunned face, he very nearly smiled. Being speechless wasn't something that often happened to the kid. So he decided to add something, it was make or break time as far as he was concerned, "And Danny, I really think you want somebody to do this for you. So shoot me if I'm wrong, but I want to help, you understand that, don't you?"

Wow, Daniel had never heard Jack make such a speech. He was a little taken back. He couldn't really deny what Jack was saying, but it didn't stop him from needing to save face by fighting this at every opportunity. He didn't want to look weak and needy. Daniel chewed the inside of his lip as his gaze dropped away from the understanding look of the older man. For all his brash, fighting thoughts, Daniel felt a pang of need bite him in his gut. Nobody had imposed rules on Daniel, not since his parents and that was nearly a lifetime ago. The truth behind Jack's biting words niggled at the edges of Daniel's conscience. The older man really did love him…

He was roused from his thoughts by Jack grabbing his knee and shaking it slightly, "So, Danny, unless you'd like a different perspective throughout this conversation, you gonna cut the attitude?" Jack's stare hardened a little and Daniel winced as the heat in his butt seemed to notch up slightly with the reminder.

Daniel shook his shaggy head, his dark golden bangs sliding in front his glasses. He couldn't bring him self to verbally agree.

"Okay then, we're good to go," started Jack, carefully studying what he could see of Daniel's face to make sure the younger man was actually listening.

"I'm diving in with the biggy, Daniel. You disobeyed a direct order today, kiddo and in my eyes, that deserves more of what I dished out earlier…"

Daniel's head shot up as his wide eyes stared disbelievingly at the older man, "You're kidding, right?" Daniel blurted out, blinking and trying to clear the haze that had just dropped over his mind.

"Don't interrupt, Daniel," Jack breathed calmly, "you could have got us all killed today, but more importantly than that, you could have been killed and we would have never have known! It's not acceptable or debatable."

Daniel looked on, trying to form words, "But.."

"Ah!"

"I"

"No, Daniel. Not debatable. Period."

Daniel dropped his head and examined his hands intently; this wasn't a battle he'd win at the minute. Maybe he'd be able to talk Jack out of that particular form of action when everything had calmed down a bit; he'd stay quiet for now.

"Number two," smiled Jack.

"There's a difference between giving your opinion and plain old insubordination and you have a tendency towards the latter."

Daniel couldn't hold his tongue at this point, "I do not!"

"Do to."

"You just don't listen, Jack!"

"Daniel, Nine times out of ten I do actually listen, but as the leader, I have to make decisions. I don't always have the time to debate those decisions with you or anyone else. I have to take the whole situation into account, not just your concerns. Sometimes you just have to accept what I'm saying, no arguments."

Jack had a most patient look on his face, but that didn't stop Daniel questioning the fact that the older man just wanted him to accept stuff.

"It's not in my nature not to question things, Jack. You should know that."

Jack closed his eyes and shook his head, "Daniel, that's why we need to reign this in, its not always appropriate. You need to listen and shut up sometimes."

Daniel huffed. Listen and shut up, this was turning into that naughty kid thing he was worried about.

"Daniel, time to think is always available ya know." Jack raised his eyebrows expectantly, while staring at the lowered head.

The younger man looked up, "What?"

Jack looked at his most uninteresting corner and then back at his friend.

Daniels eyes went wide as he realized what Jack was implying, "You've got to be kidding, no way!"

"Yes, way, my little linguist, now cut the crap, this is how it's gonna be. You either suck it up or we start having to ground you from gate travel a whole lot more."

"What?" Daniel's mouth gapped, what did Jack mean?

"You heard me, this is about all of us. I can't be seen to let you get away with this stuff Daniel and I'm not willing to continue on the same course we were going on."

"B-but…I-it was a plain honest mistake Jack, I just didn't think." Daniel still looked and felt stunned.

"You got it in one, Daniel. You didn't think, that's the problem and this isn't the first time. I've seen enough to know you have times when you blatantly disobey orders and that's without the times you 'don't think' as you put it."

Daniel narrowed his eyes and looked accusingly at the older man, "Only when you're wrong, Jack."

"Excuse me?"

Daniel was almost daring Jack, pushing to get a reaction. Jack was after all only human, "You're not always right, that's all I'm saying."

Jack set his face and crossed his arms over his chest after he'd got to his feet to face his friend, "And you're always right, Daniel?"

The younger man glanced up and paled at the glare he was receiving, it was intimidating to say the least and it suddenly dawned on his that maybe this wasn't the best time to have this kind of discussion.

"Urr…well, no, no I'm not," he could feel himself retreating into little boy mode as Jack looked down at him, the disappointed parental look going into full flow.

Jack leaned down and swiftly took Daniel's arm, hoisting him up before delivering three stinging swift swats to the younger man's backside.

Daniel was dismayed as he gasped and blinked back tears along with a confused look, while his mouth hung open.

Jack let go as he sat down next to his reluctant charge.

"Daniel, I warned you. Now quit the attitude. I'm going to finish this if it kills both of us." The colonel spoke with resignation, but was quite obviously going to plough on, regardless of the stunned look Daniel was still giving him.

"If you are insubordinate without damn good reason, I'll ground you here, at home. They'll be no going to your place and doing all your favorite stuff. It'll be here, with me, doing as you're told and no arguments. You'll be allowed to bring the important stuff home and that will be it. The next step after that is confined to your room apart from eating and working. If you choose to break any or all of these restrictions, you know the consequences, got me Daniel?"

Daniel's mouth was still working, but nothing was coming out. All he could do was nod. He could feel a tear starting to course down his cheek.

The older man suddenly leaned forward and swiped the tear from Daniel's face for a second time in the evening. He was gentle and his gaze softened. Jack threw an arm around his young friend and pulled him into a tight hug, "Danny, I really care about you. I don't want anything to happen to you, not when it could be prevented. This is last chance saloon as far as I'm concerned, I'm all out of ideas, do you understand?"

The linguist nodded, Daniel did understand…


	4. Chapter 4

okay kids! Annuffer bit, we're on a roll! Lots and lots more to come! hugs Laura and Michelle xx

* * *

Daniel tried to concentrate on the symbols before him but he couldn't help feeling this was not where he should be or what he should be doing right now

Daniel tried to concentrate on the symbols before him but he couldn't help feeling this was not where he should be or what he should be doing right now. He should be off-world with SG-1, but no amount of cajoling would convince Jack of that fact, as far as Jack was concerned, he was banned from gate travel for the next two weeks and that was that.

Daniel moaned and hurried out of his chair, the constant burning pain wasn't helping hold his already wandering attention either. He hopped around the room in the hopes of easing the smarting ache in that part of the anatomy where your back loses its decent name.

Jack had been true to his word that was for certain. He had in fact dished out more of what Daniel had gotten yesterday as he'd promised, much more by the way.

No sooner were they done discussing rules and consequences than Jack had ordered him to bed. To bed!

"Bed!" he'd been more than a little surprised with that particular demand. He'd checked his watch just to be sure, "It's too early, Jack. And besides, I think I'm old enough to decide when I go to bed, don't you agree."

Jack had just given him the look and had briskly pointed to the stairs. "You're grounded, that also means early bedtime, kiddo." Daniel had stared at him open mouthed, thinking Jack must've truly lost his marbles this time.

"Jack?" _You must be kidding._

"Daniel." _I'm deadly serious._

Daniel continued to stare at him incredulously for a while, thinking it must be some kind of a joke, Jack couldn't have possibly meant what he'd thought he meant. Jack treated him like a child at times in the past, but this felt a little over the top to Daniel. The whole rules thing maybe he could manage, but being sent to bed like some naughty little kid was way too much.

However, one look at Jack's face had helped him make up his mind. It was certainly not the time to push Jack's boundaries, so he'd swallowed up his pride and let it drop for the moment, but not before sending an angry scowl Jack's way, he then muttered, huffed and growled his way up the steps.

"I'll be up there shortly and I expect you to be ready for bed, not fiddling with that laptop, understood?'

He stopped dead in his tracks, turned around and regarded Jack thoughtfully. "Urr, Jack, why are you coming up, exactly?"

Jack cocked his head and squinted, "to ensure you actually do as your told, cos if you remember, that's what this was all about in the first place. We also need to wrap up our little chat. I need to make sure you understand, Daniel."

Daniel had been about to argue but then thought better of it, the way Jack was going these days, he would probably end up facing one of Jack's very unexciting corners for the next half hour. He'd just shrugged it off as another of Jack's oddities and had gone on his way.

Now in retrospect, he realized he should've seen it coming, Jack had, after all, promised there'd more to come later for his latest transgression, and if nothing else, Jack was certainly a man of his word. But at the time he'd been quite shocked when Jack had walked into the room later and after much debating (Well, that's the way Daniel put it,) sat on his bed and started dishing out the rest of his punishment.

Daniel cringed at the memory...

...He'd been lying quietly on his bed, in only his boxers and a T-shirt, dozing off in spite of himself when there was a slight knock at the door, then, a moment later; Jack had walked into the room, a determined frown creasing his face.

Daniel had gazed lethargically up at him through half lidded eyes behind a pair of crooked glasses. "What is it, Jack?" He'd asked drowsily, pushing his glasses up clumsily and knuckling the sleep from his eyes.

"We haven't finished our 'little talk' yet, Daniel."

"What do you mean?" He yawned and propped himself up on his elbow. "We just had that discussion a few minutes ago." He remembered he'd been quite puzzled by Jack's statement at the time.

"And, what did we talk about?" Jack had prompted.

Daniel rolled his eyes and sat up on his bed. "Well, about all those stupid rules you want to impose on me." Daniel regretted the harsh words as soon as they'd left his mouth, wincing at Jack's warning glare and deceivingly calm reply.

"One thing I thought I'd left very clear, Daniel, was that if you were so set on giving me attitude instead of discussing things like an adult then—"

"Like an adult!" Daniel interrupted, he'd let out an outraged laugh and all foreboding forgotten. "Like adults!!" he snapped, then he sprung out of bed like a tightly wound, deranged watch spring, straight up to his feet, bouncing slightly in place and stomping his foot vigorously to make his point, he was blind with outrage.

"You are the one who's hell bent on treating me like a little, disobedient child! So don't come and tell me you want to have a sensible, adult, man to man conversation because I don't buy it!" He'd felt such euphoria then, like he'd somehow won round three this time around. Right up to the point he'd heard the stern command...

"Corner! Now!" Jack had thrust his index finger into the farthest, emptiest corner in the room.

Daniel was dismayed to see this going in the direction he really didn't want it to go, but he was unable to rain in his rapidly spiraling, out of control temper.

"You see? See? See? SEE?" He'd screamed and threw both arms out in frustration, dancing around in circles while stomping his foot down hard several more times, punctuating each word.

Jack had simply seized him by the arm, swung him around in the direction of the offending angle and landed a succession of ten rapid, thunderous swats on his barely protected rear.

That caught Daniel's attention immediately. Standing stock still, nose plastered against the wall Jack had just thrust him into. Jack then proceeded to give him the dressing down of his life.

"If you stopped acting like a completely spoilt little brat I certainly wouldn't treat you like one, Daniel. But believe me, when I tell you this last little temper tantrum of yours, - and that's what it was, an out-and-out mother-of-all-tantrums tantrum- wasn't exactly a picture of maturity if that is what you wanted to illustrate, Danny boy."

He'd stiffened at the truth behind Jack's words and had silently berated himself for losing it like that. He'd been so stupid!

"As long as you behave like a spoilt child that's the treatment you're gonna get," Jack had continued to scold his back and Daniel's once again stinging backside. "I certainly have no qualms about getting you acquainted with all the most uninteresting little corners of the house if it helps. And if a few well-aimed swats will help get your forever wandering attention, then that's how it's gonna be."

There was a long pause. Daniel started to wonder whether Jack was planning to leave him standing there forever. He was about to take a peek to check if Jack was still in the room when the Colonel's deep, booming voice suddenly made him jump.

"If there's something I will not tolerate its disrespect, Daniel. I don't accept it from anyone under my command, and certainly not from my own son and before you say anything, I've already told you, I love you like a son, so don't make me repeat myself, you know I'm not good for that kind of talk so spare us both the awkwardness, okay? Okay, where was I?... Oh... yeah... disrespect. I will not tolerate it, especially not from you. Capiche?"

Daniel made to turn around but had been stopped in his tracks by Jack's abrupt disapproving interjection. "Aht! Aht! Nose in the corner!" And he'd readily responded to the command and turned his gaze promptly back to the wall.

And after Jack's little outburst, all had gone quiet, apart from what Daniel could only think must be Jack pacing, but he certainly wasn't going to chance a glance after Jack's explosive lecture.

It felt like an eternity before Jack finally released him from his two-walled confinement. Who would have thought something as ridiculously small as standing in a corner would be such a torture? Standing still for so long made his feet begin to ache, slightly at first, so he'd tried to ignore it, but the minor discomfort gradually grew into a constant throb and he started to fidget.

"Stay still, Daniel." Jack had admonished and he'd immediately stopped moving. But it had soon proven it'd be a whole lot harder than it seemed, as the throb grew into a very irritating pain and couldn't help start squirming restlessly in the spot, only to be reminded to stay still by a sharp, stinging smack on the seat of his pants.

But one thing was for certain, the corner thing, as stupid as it may sound certainly helped calm his frayed nerves considerably. When Jack called him to resume their little chat, he'd readily agreed, and this time he'd kept the smart comments to himself. He certainly didn't want to spend one more minute in the godforsaken corner, not if he could avoid it.

"So, now that I can see we're in a better frame of mind what, may I ask, was rule number one, Daniel?"

Daniel, head slightly bent forward started fiddling nervously with a thread on the mattress he'd been then sitting at, right next to Jack. "Obeying orders," he'd mumbled in a barely audible voice.

"And what were the consequences for breaking that rule, Daniel?"

Daniel dropped his head even lower, chin resting on his chest, a curtain of light brown hair effectively blocking his face from view.

"I asked you a question, young man. I expect an answer." Jack had demanded sternly when Daniel had failed to answer.

"A—a-a spanking," he'd stuttered, but with a feeling of outrage starting grumble in his gut again, he managed to force himself to look to the side at the stern brown eyes and...well...plead is the only way he could put it now.

"Jack, please, this is so stupid, I'm sorry."

Jack held his unwavering stare and didn't say anything to answer that. Seeing no reprieve in sight, Daniel's gaze dropped back to the frayed mattress cover, before Jack continued on the same insultingly juvenile line of questioning.

"Right and didn't you disobey a direct order today, endangering your life and the rest of the team's as well?"

"Y-yes, sir." He muttered with the feeling of impending doom starting to settle in his stomach.

"And what did I promise you'd get when we had our chat downstairs?"

God, Jack certainly wasn't making it easy for him, he couldn't help squirming at the memory, Jack had obviously been trying to trick him into admitting he'd been wrong and deserved the spanking. He indeed succeeded in making him feel bad and embarrassed about his behavior off-world and at home, but if he'd been expecting him to say he actually wanted the spanking, then he had another thing coming as that was certainly not gonna happen.

"Well, Daniel. I'm waiting." Jack had prodded.

Daniel had swallowed hard against the trepidation that was steadily building inside him, and summoning up his courage he stammered his reply, "Y-you promised I'd—that I'd get..." to his horror, his voice had picked that moment to crack, then he could feel the telltale stinging in his eyes, heralding the tears he so hadn't needed on top of everything else right then.

"Yes, Danny?" Jack's voice had softened considerably as he'd urged him to go on.

Daniel had been dreading that moment since Jack mentioned there would be more to come later, but had been hoping Jack would somehow forget about it. But of course, he'd had no such luck.

Daniel sighed deeply and, thank God, managed to compose himself, "You promised me another spanking, sir." He'd finished quietly.

"That's right." Jack put a comforting hand on the nape of his neck, "and you know I meant what I said earlier, I am only doing this because I love you and I couldn't bear to lose you." A sniff, and then a nod. "God, Daniel! Every time you put your life in danger like you did today you scare the hell out of me, kid. If you keep this up one day very soon you'll give me a coronary."

"I'm sorry, Jack."

"I know. You usually are. But being sorry won't bring you back from the dead if this gets out of hand and it certainly won't help me when I have a stroke either." That had gotten a giggle from Daniel. "It's not funny, Daniel."

Daniel had sobered immediately. "No, sir."

"And as I said earlier, seeing as how all those lectures, all the yelling and shouting doesn't seem to be helping, I'll just have to take a more direct approach, and hope against hope that this time it sinks into that little over-educated head of yours that your death is definitely not acceptable." And with that Jack hauled him over his lap.

Even though he'd known they were coming, the first smack nearly shocked the air out of him, it had definitely been harder than the previous spanking he'd gotten before, the spanks coming down faster and harder on his poorly protected butt that had soon started to warm up.

Jack was pelting on his thinly covered behind for what had felt like forever for the dangling, overturned young man, at the time and it wasn't long before his butt started to feel like it was on fire, and the stinging had turned into an incessant burn that spread on both buttocks and upper thighs.

"Please, Jack... Stop! Stop!" He was in sobbing by then, crying in earnest and begging Jack to stop, wriggling on the Colonel's hard knees in his vain attempts to escape the strong man's tight, secure hold.

"I'm sorry, Danny. We're hardly over yet. I need to make sure this is one lesson you'll remember for a very long time, because next time you could end with something far worse than a sore butt." That said, Jack's stinging pummeling on his now screaming bottom intensified, sending new bolts of searing pain that had bitten down on his slowly blistering flesh.

After the first few minutes of the spanking Daniel had begun pleading relentlessly for Jack to stop, promising anything and everything for the persistently pounding on his, by then, searing hot behind to end. Total and complete obedience for the rest of his natural life had been one of those things, nothing else mattered at the time, only the incessantly throbbing backside that needed the punishment to stop at any cost and hazard and Daniel hadn't been above begging.

"Jaaack, phuleeez! Stop! Stop! I'm sorrreee! I'm sorreee! Phuleeeez Jack! Ow... Ahhh... Pleeeez... It hurts!He'd wailed and cried, but Jack had only increased the tempo and intensity of each smack landing a series of twenty harder and faster swats on the flaming backside.

By the time Jack finished the spanking Daniel was weeping hysterically. Jack helped him up and instantly enveloped him in a fierce hug, pressing the flushed, tear stained face down on the crook of his shoulder, gently caressing the back of Daniel's head as he made low shushing noises, rocking the younger man soothingly back and forth, whispering nonsensical words of reassurance in his ear softly.

Daniel blushed as he remembered that particular part of yesterday's 'little talk' with Jack, or rather, with Jack's granite-like hand. The spanking in itself had been embarrassing enough, but bawling like a baby afterwards had really been the icing on the cake.

And now he really doubted he'd be able to sit down comfortably for the next two weeks, let alone work for extended periods of time. His butt was a blazing inferno, scorching, hurting beyond comparison.

He sighed. One thing was for sure, though, Jack had made very clear what was expected of him and what he could look forward to if he defied his authority or broke one of his rules ever again. He even promised he'd be losing some items of clothing next time around, he shuddered, now he really wasn't looking forward to such a 'little talk.' He hadn't expected it would hurt this much, though.

Daniel settled his gaze on the stack of unfinished translations, if this went on much longer he'd be stuck in here all night and still wouldn't be able to finish his work, every few hours he found himself in desperate need to relieve the pressure on his stinging butt. This was all Jack's fault, if he hadn't paddled him so hard he would've at least been able to do his job here on base.

The hurt and humiliation turned slowly into anger and resentment. Anger at himself for letting himself get carried away with his work and not realizing the rest of his team were in danger outside, at Jack for being responsible for his current misery, at the Jaffa for having surprised them and brought this all down on himself in the first place, if it hadn't been for them, Jack would've never found out he'd gone into the lower levels of the temple and he wouldn't be having problems sitting down now. Yeah, it was all their fault. Definitely their fault.

Daniel crept back to his desk, reached for a small mirror he kept in one of his drawers and pulled it out. Curiosity getting the better of him, he brought it to his back and facing his butt. He pulled his pants down and examined the damage carefully.

He groaned. No doubt he was having trouble sitting down, the image reflected back at him was a dark crimson. Jack sure had a pretty heavy hand.

Just then someone walked through the partially open door, apparently he'd forgotten to close the door properly. He straightened his clothes hurriedly, blushing a deeper shade of red probably equal to that of his inflamed posterior, the mirror slipping from his fingers and crashing to the floor in the process.

The bulky SF pretended not to notice, "I'm sorry to disturb you Dr. Jackson, but I'm afraid I'll have to escort you top side."

"What?"

"Colonel O'Neill ordered me to make sure you left this complex at 1800 hours, not one minute later." The man calmly informed him.

Daniel stared in complete astonishment, his eyes as wide as television screens behind the frames of his lenses. "I'm sorry, but I can't leave, I've got a lot of work to do."

"I've got my orders, Doctor. Colonel O'Neill was very clear I should ensure your departure at the appointed time. Please, come with, Doctor." The bulky officer signaled he should follow him outside, his posture and demeanor not leaving any doubt in Daniel's mind the man was not above using physically force to remove him from the building, if the need arose.

Daniel threw a piercing glare at the man, growling menacingly under his breath and clenching and unclenching his fists at his sides, but in the end simply swirled around and started gathering his papers. "Fine. I'll be out in a second. Let me gather some stuff and I—"

"I'm sorry, Dr." The officer cut in, "but the Colonel also pointed out I should not allow you to take any work home, either." Daniel raised his head from the array of translations he was trying to sort out and stared at him in disbelief.

"Excuse me?" Daniel gritted out.

"I'm sorry, Doctor, but I will have to ask you to leave those here." The man gestured at the stack of paper in Daniel's hands.

Daniel clenched his jaw in suppressed rage and reluctantly let them drop carelessly on the desk, with a few sheets flying out and slowly sailing down onto the floor. Daniel took a slow, deep breath to calm himself before reaching for the laptop instead.

"Uh... I'm sorry, the laptop will have to stay as well." The tall, muscular man remained stoic as Daniel turned his icy glare back at him, "I'm really sorry, but the Colonel was very specific I should not let you take anything from this office with you."

Daniel was now seething inside, he bit the inside of his mouth to stop the hot retort from spewing out and with great restraint resisted the impulse to hurl the laptop across the room and contented himself with merely slamming it noisily down onto the desk.

He swallowed his anger and purposefully stomped out of the room, throwing angrily over his shoulder as he neared the elevator. "That's okay, I don't need an escort. I know my way out."

Daniel was brewing with fury underneath the nonchalant look he tried to put up. He couldn't believe Jack had actually gone and done this! This was way, way too extreme. To have actually ordered an SF to practically drag him out of the mountain was just plain excessive, even for Jack.

Okay, yes, maybe he wouldn't have left otherwise, even if Jack promised dire consequences if he failed to be back home by six. Who would've been the wiser if hadn't quite made it on time anyway? He may be grounded but he wasn't stupid, he wouldn't let that ludicrous set of restrictions get in the way of his work if Jack wasn't there to supervise him.

Apparently Jack had suspected something and felt it necessary to take some precautions to ensure he 'behaved,' as he had so embarrassingly told Daniel before he had stepped through the gate earlier that morning.

The tell-tale footsteps of his 'guard' walking a short distance behind him only fueled his growing outrage. Wasn't anyone listening to him anymore? Hadn't he just said that man could beat it and get the hell out of his hair!

When he got to the locker rooms he spun around on his heels and shot venomously up at the man. "Do you have orders to assist me to dress too or can I manage that much on my own?"

"Of course not, Doctor, but be quick, it's getting late."

Daniel narrowed his eyes at the towering form, his frown deepening as he whirled into the locker rooms like a tornado.

#o0o#

When Daniel got home he was seething with rage. The mere thought of what Jack had done today; leaving someone to watch over him and make sure he did as he'd been told and went home like a good little boy was the last straw!

That whole setting rules thing was just plain stupid, anyway, he was a grown man for crying out loud! Jack was just being plain unreasonable and now it was starting to grate on his nerves, big time! If it had been Teal'c or Sam who'd wandered off or defied orders he most certainly wouldn't have reacted this way. Why did Jack have to treat him like some clueless, disobedient little kid all the time? It was just all so unfair!

And to top it all off, he hadn't even been able to drive himself home today, he hadn't been able to get his license back yet, what with all the readjustments of being back on Earth after a whole year of having been presumed dead! It really was no wonder he still hadn't gotten around to getting his driving license back, why he hadn't even been able to get his own place, yet. So an apartment should be his first priority at the moment.

Nevertheless, it had been very uncomfortable to have no choice but to be driven home by an airman. For starters, he had to be very careful not to squirm too much on his seat, and it had been quite a challenging task to say the least, the last thing he needed right now was for word to spread around the base that his CO had given him a spanking! He shuddered at the mere thought. As soon as the officer had pulled up by the house, he'd practically propelled himself from the car in his haste to relieve the pressure on his agonizingly burning backside.

The airman had given him an odd look but hadn't made a comment and Daniel wasn't about to volunteer information. He'd simply nodded his thanks and disappeared into the house.

When he closed the door behind him, with rather more force than was strictly necessary, and turned around to hang his jacket on the coat rack, he saw it, the damn list pegged on the door, and his frown deepened, if that was even possible. He snatched it violently away and stared intently at the words written in Jack's distinctive handwriting.

"Tuesday: Mow lawn, clean bathroom (thoroughly)," Daniel started reading out loud, "sweep house (every nook and cranny), do the laundry, wash truck..." each new item added to the smoldering fire building up inside him. Jack couldn't expect him to do all this today! It was impossible!

Before they left for the mountain this morning, Jack wrote down this list with all the 'extra chores' he was supposed to do during his grounding period, and pointed out he wanted every item on the list for Tuesday and Wednesday ticked off by the time he got back, or else. He scowled menacingly at the tiny slip of paper, your typical petulant Daniel pout settling in place, with lower lip jutting forward and big blue eyes glittering with rage. This was all so unreasonable!

He went ballistic, all the pent up fury he'd been building up inside all day suddenly went Krakatau in a fit of intense, explosive ire, resentment and indignation.

He tossed the list angrily to the floor and rampaged into the kitchen, snatched the receiver out of its cradle and started dialing furiously, held the phone to his ear and waited impatiently, drumming his fingers restlessly on the table and tapping his foot rhythmically on the floor.

"_Hello"_

"Robert? This is Daniel."

"_Oh... hey, I was just about to leave for the conference, what's up?"_

"It's about the conference, actually. It seems I'll be joining you after all," he smiled smugly into the receiver.

"_Really? That's great! I thought you were going to be too busy at home?"_

"Nah, not anymore, I'm free to go so, how about I meet you at your place in say... half an hour?"

"_Yeah... that'll be fine. We'll take my car so you don't have to ride that awful subway. You have to do something about that license, man." _

"Yeah... You can say that again." Daniel cringed remembering the awkward trip back from the mountain. "I just couldn't get the time yet."

He heard Robert sigh noisily on the other end of the line, _"Tell me about it, things just never calm down in that place. See you later, then. And don't be long or we're gonna be late."_

"Don't worry; I'll be there in less than thirty minutes. See you." He hung up and ran for his room to change.

Oh... Jack would be so mad if he found out, but Jack wasn't home, so what he didn't know couldn't hurt, right? And in the off chance that he did find out, which was relatively impossible as he was light years away, why should he care? He wasn't a little kid; Jack couldn't expect him to do everything he said all the time. And honestly, right now, Daniel was just too mad to care about what Jack would think.

Daniel gave one last violent tug on his shoe laces and straightened his jacket one last time. He walked over to the full length mirror and after making sure he was as presentable as he could make himself he stomped determinedly out of the room, downstairs and was just about to walk through the front door when he spotted the crumpled list on the floor.

He stooped down and picked it up. Regarded it thoughtfully, suddenly an idea formed in his head and the deep scowl faded into a big, smug grin that lit up his entire face. He slapped the list on the low table and strode to the adjacent counter drawers, briskly flinging one open and fishing inside for a pen. He then strode back to the low table and bend down over the offending piece of paper, ticking off each of the items for Tuesday and Wednesday in energetic, jerky movements.

He straightened back up and tossed the pen carelessly onto the table, smiling self-righteously down at his handiwork. "That's it. All done." He said out loud, wiping his hands together in satisfaction. His emotions boiling inside, he stormed out of the house, slamming the door forcefully in protest as if Jack were there to hear it.

Twenty minutes later, Daniel was getting off the bus and walking down the street to his friend's house. He felt strangely elated and vibrant with energy, it was silly, but the fact that he was going against Jack's explicit orders and wishes somehow felt like some kind of forbidden adventure or something, he was nearly shaking with the excitement.

When he rounded the corner Daniel saw Robert was standing on the porch waiting for him. Daniel waved him at him, "Hey Robert!"

"Hey, Daniel!"

They greeted with a hearty handshake and then proceeded to Robert's car.

"Are you sure it's okay for you to come to the conference with me?" Robert asked as he fumbled for his car keys.

"What do you mean? Why wouldn't it be okay?"

Robert put the key in the lock and opened the driver's door. "Oh... I don't know. It's just the Colonel didn't seem very happy about it when I asked you earlier this morning." He said as he got in the car and unlocked the passenger's door for Daniel.

Daniel's earlier anger bubbled to the surface again at his colleague's comment. He swung the door open, jumped inside, slamming it shut behind him. "Well, if he was then that's just too damn bad because I'm going. He's not my keeper you know, whether I go out today is my business, not his."

"Hey, chill Daniel. I didn't mean anything by it. Just don't want you to get into trouble with the Colonel, that's all." Robert held both hands out in a placating gesture.

"Oh... Please. I'm not going to get into trouble with Jack for going to a conference." Daniel scoffed

"All right, If you say it's okay, then it's okay." With that Robert turned the key on the ignition, started the engine and they drove off.


	5. Chapter 5

And annufer bit, arnt we buusy bees. Enjoy folks and please feedback. We've aloud the mystery ones if youd rather do it that way. And use it to make suggestions too, were happy to try and incoperate. hugs xx

* * *

"Off world activation, repeat, off world activation!" blared the loud speakers in the SGC. General Hammond strode quickly out of his office and into the Control room.

"Is there anyone due back?" the General demanded urgently.

"No, sir," came Sergeant Davis' quick response as he promptly turned back around towards the computer screen, "Incoming traveler, Sir!"

"All defense teams stand by!" ordered General Hammond. Guards swarmed quickly down the spiraling staircase, weapons at the ready, aiming at the closed gate. Then suddenly an iris code shone on the computer screen.

"It's SG-1, sir!"

"Open the iris and get a medical team down here." They weren't scheduled to come back for another day yet, 'something must've come up' thought Hammond, and knowing SG-1, he feared it wouldn't be pretty. The general then turned briskly on his heels and hurried down to the gate room.

The big metal circle expanded and the magnificent event horizon came into full view. There were a few tense minutes in which nothing happened, but then bursting through the giant pool came SG-1 right along with several blast fire that sailed through the room and impacted on the blast doors at the other end of the room.

"Close the iris! Close the iris!" screamed Colonel O'Neil from the gate ramp. Soon afterwards the titanium ring contracted in on itself effectively blocking the entrance.

"What happened out there?"

"Those were not friendly natives, General." reported Colonel O'Neill, thrusting his index finger in the direction of the now inactive stargate.

"Indeed." Both Teal'c's eyebrows rose in agreement.

"Okay, Colonel, report to the infirmary, we'll debrief in an hour… and Colonel," Hammond paused and gave them a quick once-over, "please, hit the showers first."

Jack shot him a shocked look and stuck his nose under his arm, "That bad, Sir?"

"Oh... yes, Colonel," nodded Hammond as he ushered them out of the gate room.

**oOo**

Wrapping up the 'de-brief' on the 'oh so' pointless mission, Jack sighed and slapped the buff colored folder closed in front of him. That was one he sure wanted assigned to the classified shelves in the Pentagon, never to be seen again.

This meet and greet had been an unmitigated disaster after the first few hours they'd been there. The people where friends of the Goa'uld and once they knew that SG1 were the Tauri, all hell had let loose. One lousy night was all it had taken to nearly get killed on multiple occasions while dragging another civilian scientist around with the team. Admittedly, Daniel was a pain in the butt sometimes, but he had started to learn a few things and was useful to the team, even when things did get sticky. This other geek had been like being tied to a rock in deep water. Getting back alive at all had been a miracle. Jack had moaned constantly at the man (apparently called, David) as they'd moved from place to place over the course of the night, trying to stay alive. Jack had been cold, wet and generally strung out as far as he could physically get on this particular occasion. He had no time to train new blood on the fly. This had meant to be a simple meet and greet, not practice field training with all the real live effects chucked in for fun!

Jack felt sorry for the kid, but that was it, he was just trying to keep them alive. Carter on the other hand had given Jack the eye on more than one occasion due to Jack's in difference to their new short-term team member. Jack hadn't even bothered to ask his name, only being told by Carter on their return through he Stargate. He didn't feel the need to ask, Daniel would be back with them next week anyway.

Jack missed the kid. For all of his inability to follow orders, single mindedness and general stupidity on occasion, Jack missed him. Carter and Teal'c did too. There was something taken away from the team dynamic without Daniel, but Jack wouldn't back down on the rules, not now. He'd come this far and he'd stand by his decision. Daniel was not disposable.

Jack pushed back away from the table and smiled, he was physically spent and wanted to go home and have beer and pizza with Daniel. Maybe play chess; watch some hockey and have an early night. He felt sure Daniel would want to hear about the mission and would be glad to have Jack home early.

"Off to see Daniel, sir?"

A familiar call jostled Jack from his revelry; Jack hadn't realized Sam was still there.

"Oh yeah, was just thinking about him actually," he smiled.

Sam smiled and nodded, "It's weird him not being with us out there, but I understand why you did what you did, Sir. It'll be good to have him back though."

Jack nodded, "Yeah, it will. Maybe he'll think about what he's doing after this." Jack started to make his way towards the door and offered for Sam to walk in front of him.

A small laugh escaped the captain, which Jack didn't miss, "Well, maybe, Sir. I'm sure you're the man for the job," she smiled.

Jack shook his head, what had he taken on? "I'll see you in the morning, Captain and say goodnight to T for me, he must be doing his thing already," Jack waved his arm around, indicating his inability to name Teal'c's meditative state.

"Yes, Sir, I will, have a good evening." and with that, Sam hurried off down the corridor, undoubtedly to do more work and not go home, but Jack wouldn't say anything for now.

He quickly stuck his head around the general's door to wish the older man a good evening before leaving the base, but as he uttered the words and made to leave, George's eyebrows rose and he looked at the colonel expectantly.

"Ah, Colonel. Have you got a minute?"

Jack nodded and smiled, even though he really wanted to go home, "Yes, sir. What gives?" Jack wandered in, but didn't take a seat, hoping to make the point he'd rather be leaving.

George smiled, "Its okay, Colonel, I won't keep you long. I just needed you to quickly run an eye over these security papers for me, so that I can get them off to the Pentagon tomorrow."

Placing his file in the chair, Jack leaned forward and scooped the papers up. Three sheets tops, would take him two minutes, "Just a read, sir?"

"Yes, Colonel, just a read, unless you see any glaring mistakes."

The General always asked, there were never any mistakes though, he was a very thorough man.

Jack nodded and started to read through.

"I see Dr. Jackson attended that conference with Dr. Rothman today?" George said conversationally a moment later when Jack had nearly finished.

Jack's head popped up, losing him his place. "Urr… yeah, yeah, he did." For his part, Jack didn't want to tell General Hammond he'd already told Daniel he was most definitely not meant to go, partly because of the circumstances. As his CO, he was entitled, as it was work related, so the admittance would only bring Daniel's insubordination under closer scrutiny and by the sound of George's enquiry, he'd obviously suspected Jack may have said no anyway.

Jack looked at George's face, he felt sure the older man could probably see into his soul. In a lot of ways like that George reminded Jack of his own father.

"I was surprised when I received the call to say that he wouldn't be in until tomorrow, considering you weren't allowing him off world, Colonel."

God he was gonna kill Daniel, now Jack was under scrutiny from his CO. "Yeah, I know, sir, but it was essential to some of his translation work and you know how Daniel can put up a pretty convincing argument sometimes," Jack smiled weakly, he hated this. Covering Daniel's ass, my god was he gonna cover Daniel's ass for this.

Jack could see George leaning forward and settling into that, 'I-have-something-to-tell-you' pose and there was no getting away from it, he was going to have to take this on the chin, "I don't mean to criticize your leadership abilities, Jack and this is completely off the record, but you grounded that young man for insubordination of sorts and in doing that you had to bring it to my attention. I know it's unofficial, but knowing what I do of our young Doctor, I'd say he probably could have done without going to that conference on this occasion to finish more work here. He is under some sort of restriction at least to think about his actions and the way they affected all of his team. He needs to start thinking a little more military and it's your job to affect that, Colonel."

Jack held the papers before him, not quite knowing where to put his face; he was actually being politely reprimanded for being soft on his archeologist!

"Yes, Sir, I understand, I'll be more rigid with the grounding issue if it comes up again." Jack chewed the inside of his mouth; he was fighting the inner need to explode. Daniel was in so much trouble.

Returning his gaze to the papers, Jack finished reading them before handing them back to the older man. He was about to say goodbye in the hope of getting out of here, stat, when George spoke his name again.

"Jack?"

"Yes, Sir?" _Oh for cryin' out loud!_

"I don't think I'd be wrong in assuming you actually told Dr. Jackson he couldn't go to the conference, would I, son?"

_Oh crap_. "Urr…no, Sir, you wouldn't."

"I also know that you're protecting a team mate and I understand that you need to deal with him, but be aware that I'm here to help. I like the young man and I think you've got your hands full there." George smiled.

Jack sighed, more in relief than anything else, he couldn't help it. He never failed to underestimate the general; the same way he'd always done with his own father. There where some things you never learn, mused Jack.

And just to add to everything else that was going on, he and the general where still trying to figure out the complicated new relationship which a CO and subordinate often had, Jack was trying to play things safe and George was still surprising him on many fronts. Not least this one.

"Thank you, Sir." Jack smiled, appreciating George's honesty.

"He's young, Jack. Not military, I don't want us to lose him."

George spoke with such sincerity, it nearly bought a tear to the colonel's eye, "I know, Sir. I'll take care of him," Jack turned, picked up his file and walked towards the door, before reaching it, he looked back, "General, how did you know I'd said he couldn't go?"

George nodded and smiled knowingly, "Well, you would have told me he wasn't going to be here today for a start. Also, I know that your personal judgment is better than that and call it my grandfatherly instincts, but when I spoke to him on the phone earlier, he sounded more than a little apprehensive."

Jack chuckled, "Thank you, Sir. That means you've probably already put the fear of god into him then."

"You could say that," George nodded, "Good night, son."

"Good night, General." With that Jack made his way to the locker room. He was still steaming at the ears even though George had been very understanding.

Daniel could be so damn clueless sometimes.

While Jack changed into his civvies, he thought about the General had said. Maybe he could recruit George into Daniel's knew family at some point? Another set of eyes was sure looking like it was going to be required…

**o0o**

Daniel looked out of the window as they travelled home. He'd forgotten about letting the SGC know he'd be away at a conference and had called through earlier in the day. He'd been astounded to find he was directed straight to the general. Daniel shuddered, he hadn't sounded happy, regardless of the understanding words. Daniel had been trying to shake the conversation from his mind all day, so as he unconsciously started to rake back over it again, he turned to Robert to try and induce happier thoughts.

"Wow, Robert, you were right. That was really worth it, the whole concept of archaeoastronomy, ethnoastronomy as well as other diversified fields of research relevant to the concept of astronomy in the context of the history and the culture of the ancient civilizations was simply amazing." Daniel gesticulated elatedly in the passenger seat next to his friend.

Robert let out a puff of air and nodded emphatically in agreement, "You can say that again, man. In addition, the investigation dealing with the problem of existence, survival and the world outlook of the ancient societies treated during the final discussion was in my opinion, very well approached, don't you think?"

"Totally and those two sessions for discussions dedicated to the history of astronomy, notably of astronomy during the last two centuries in Russia, Europe and Asia was very interesting."

Robert bobbed his head from side to side, "To be honest, I found that part particularly boring personally."

"Boring?!" Daniel's jaw went slack and his eyes practically popped out of his head, "you have got to be kidding me! That was one of the most amazing topics throughout the whole conference."

"No way! Oh, here we are." Robert pulled up at Jack's place.

Daniel shook his head at his friend but didn't push the issue any further. "Thanks for the lift, pal. See you tomorrow." Daniel quickly exited the car, his butt was still a little tender to sit on and those long hours stuck in the uncomfortable chairs at the conference hadn't helped. It had been completely worth it, though, but he couldn't wait to change into some sweats or something.

As Daniel neared the house, he noticed something that almost made him stagger. Jack's truck was parked in the garage. That was weird, unless... unless Jack was home. He swallowed hard. But that was impossible; he wasn't due back for another day yet. On the other hand, the unexpected was part of their daily lives at the SGC so, basically, anything was possible.

With trepidation he sneaked to the nearest window and tried to peek inside, and there was Jack, pacing from side to side ranting. He broke into a cold sweat when he heard the distinct threat emitting from the room, "I'm gonna kill that kid! I swear to God I'm gonna skin him alive!"

"Oh... Shit." Daniel quickly dropped down onto the un-mowed lawn on his still sensitive backside under the partially opened window with his back to the wall, "Think, Jackson! Think!" Daniel racked his brain for a way out of this mega titanic mess he'd managed to dig himself into.

He swept his gaze over his surroundings, there had to be something... and then his eyes settled on the elm tree just outside his room window on the far side of the yard that grew close to the house and overshadowed it.

He gulped loudly, it was no secret he wasn't very fond of heights, but it sure did beat the alternative. He shuddered; an irate Jack was something his butt didn't need, especially not now. He cringed and unconsciously rubbed his still tingling rear.

He could climb up to his room and tell Jack he'd been busy completing the last of his assigned chores and hadn't heard him come in. Jack would never suspect a thing! (Well, he hoped…)

Decision made, he sprung to his feet and moved as quickly and stealthily as he could over to the elm tree. Taking a deep calming breath, and summoning up his courage Daniel started clambering awkwardly upwards. In his haste to get to the top as fast as humanly achievable, he miss-stepped on a too thin- branch that suddenly snapped under his weight and he swayed dangerously to one side, causing him to end up losing his balance completely and dangled in the air by only his death-like grip on the thick branch overhead.

Daniel gasped, "Geez, I hate this. Oh... God, I hate this." By the time he managed to pull himself back up he was panting heavily, his heart pumping madly against his heaving chest. He lay there gasping for breath for a while, then when he managed to slow down his racing pulse he resumed his way upward.

**oOo**

Jack couldn't believe it, no actually, he could. In fact, he hadn't truly believed Daniel would follow orders when he'd left early the previous morning, he'd never done it before so why would he start now when he wasn't even there to supervise him? That's why he'd ordered that SF to drag him out of the mountain if he didn't leave of his own volition in the first place. But to come home and find an empty house, the discarded list of chores with all the obviously not completed tasks so boldly ticked off was beyond Jack's comprehension. It was worse than Daniel just going to the conference; it was, in fact, an out-and-out act of defiance in his opinion. Daniel was obviously pushing the boundaries this time.

Jack was in middle of a rant when he heard a rustling noise coming from the front yard. He stood stock still, his sharp special ops senses finely tuned on the happenings outside. He silently crept to the window and peered into the darkness outside, thinking it was maybe a burglar who was trying to break into the house when he saw, "Daniel!"

The sight of the dangling figure swaying precariously on the highest branches of the elm tree shocked the breath out of the older man. "Dammit! What the hell is he doing?" Grumbling under his breath and visibly shaking with fear for the hanging young man, he made a mad dash for the door and burst outside. "I'm gonna wring his little neck, if he doesn't break it himself first!"

When he got outside, he let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding and sagged with relief. Daniel had managed to pull himself up again and was lying sprawled on the wide, sturdy branch. "Thank God!" He was about to yell for him to get his ass down off that tree when he saw 'spider geek' resume his climbing again and decided against it. The last thing he needed was startle his already wobbling ascent and risk him falling down and cracking that stubborn, senseless head of his open. Shaking with alarm at every trip and stumbling step Daniel took, he sighed with relief when he saw him finally get to the safety of his room.

His relief soon turned into uncontrollable rage as he realized why Daniel had taken that unconventional means of entry. He was trying to avoid him, the little shit. But if he thought he was getting off the hook so easily then he was sadly mistaken. Boiling with anger, Jack stormed back into the house in long, heavy strides, a determined set frown on his face. "Daniel, god help me, I'm gonna kill ya!"

**oOo**

Daniel scrambled through the window and dropped in a heap on the floor. He sighed and lay there for a while trying to catch his breath and calm the adrenaline flow, but to no avail. This little adventure was far from over yet. He still had Jack to deal with, and that would make the tedious tree climbing seem like a walk in the park in comparison, he sighed. He only hoped Jack would buy his act.

He was still sprawled on his back, eyes closed, arms and legs splayed every which way, unguarded and completely vulnerable when he heard a barreling of threatening footsteps stomping up the steps moving alarming speed towards his position.

He shot his head up in that direction, mussed hair, glasses askew and flushed cheeks from the earlier exertion still coloring his face. For a moment he was unable to move, and it was a while before he managed to snap out of his mental funk enough to realize what was happening. Jack was coming! He needed to act, and fast!

He scampered to his feet, raked a hand through his hair in a vain attempt to bring his chaotic mop to some semblance of order, but the entangled mess stuck to his fingers and in order to free himself he had to pull a nice array of golden brown locks away from his now stinging scalp along with his hand. "Ow!"

He was in the process of massaging the sore spot on his head when the door burst open. "Oh... uh... Hi, Jack!" Daniel turned a brilliant smile in Jack's general direction; he actually couldn't see much through the thick array of hair. He still tried to look as nonchalant as possible, puffed out his chest and leaning languidly against the wall, legs casually crossed at the ankles, his long, jumbled hair sticking to his face, but he continued to regard Jack coolly. "Didn't hear you come in," he smiled conversationally.

"Really?" Jack nodded his head, his face unreadable.

"Yeah," Daniel was now starting to have second thoughts about his plan, but it was too late to back out now. "I was in here, finishing the last of my chores, guess I was too wrapped up in my work, huh?"

Daniel smiled his most charming smile. Jack nodded, eyes slightly narrowed, face stoic, if not the little bit more menacing now and then the older man slowly crossed his arms across his chest, his expectant look really starting to come into play.

Daniel gulped.

"I see." Jack's gaze didn't waver from Daniel's. "That's weird, cos I distinctly remember checking your room when I arrived, every inch of the house, for that matter, and I didn't see you."

Daniel squirmed in place, Jack's hard stare drilling holes into his eyes.

Going silent for a moment, the younger man tried to choose his next words carefully, but ended up stammering nervously, "Urr... umm... That's—uh, weird. I was right here, Jack."

Jack's chocolate brown eyes were narrowed to slits; his lips drew tight, a fine line now etched across his face. Daniel swallowed noisily. "Honest," he added meekly. Jack didn't move nor make a sound, just kept on boring holes into him with his glare. Daniel flicked his eyes wildly about the room, gnawing at his bottom lip madly before settling his gaze back on Jack's now pretty scary stare.

Man, this didn't bode well. Jack didn't seem like he was buying it, but he couldn't back down now. If Jack found out he'd left the house and had actually done none of the chores on the list, he cringed, which he now remembered he had stupidly ticked off. He'd felt so smug then, now he felt downright stupid! What idiotic power had possessed him to do that anyway? He was dead meat that was for sure! Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid! He should've just stayed home and done as he'd been told! He did deserve it after all, he'd almost gotten them all killed the other day on that planet. Oh... Man, he'd royally screwed up. Again.

Jack's dangerously low voice startled him out of his worrying thoughts, "You do realize that lying is one of the things that will get you in that uncomfortable position across my lap in a second, don't you, Daniel." Daniel could feel all the blood rushing out of his face and all the way to his toenails. Jack knew, and now he was in even deeper shit than ever. He felt like slapping his forehead. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

But instead of coming clean and fessing up or just begging for mercy, he clung at his lie like a drowning man. "But it's the truth, Jack! I was right here, finishing my chores like you told me." Daniel was getting desperate now, his eyes frantic, wide open, anxiously shifting from one foot to the other. "I'm not lying!" He emphasized by shaking his head madly from side to side.

"That's three lies in a row, Daniel."

"What?" Oh... Gawd... he did know! He was suddenly light headed.

"You heard me. Oh, and next time you want to pull Spider geek on the elm tree outside, let me know. So I can slap some sense in that numb, thick head of yours!" Jack's voice rose with each word to a distressed crescendo until the last two were a loud shout. Daniel instantly lowered his head, wincing.

"What were you thinking, Daniel!" Jack was beyond mad now. "You could've broken your neck out there!"

Daniel opened his mouth to respond but was swiftly silenced by Jack's impatient command. "No, forget it! I don't wanna hear it. I have a pretty good idea what you were thinking, or not thinking would be more accurate." Daniel dropped his head fixing his site on the floor, for all his bravado yesterday evening; he didn't feel so unconcerned and self-righteous now.

Jack had seen his opportunity and made his way menacingly across the room, Daniel had sensed the move and tried to slide along the wall, but it wasn't a move Jack was willing to let him make. He grabbed Daniel's shirt collar and drew it up slightly, making Daniel pull away, almost wincing.

There was a sudden remembrance of another foster father doing something before knocking him to the ground, he knew that's what had caused the wince and Daniel knew that Jack had probably sensed the reaction. The younger man had to give himself a mental shake; this wasn't just another foster father…or was it?

For all of the linguist's inner turmoil, the older man wasn't going to give in so easily, Daniel knew he'd really pushed Jack to the end of his proverbial rope this time.

"For a linguist, you really need to work on your understanding of the words 'grounded' and 'order.' Grounded means you're restricted, you don't get to do whatever you please, and all those nice extra curricular activities are off limits to you. And that includes conferences." Jack eyed him meaningfully, Daniel squirmed even more.

"And the extra chores are not optional, Dannyboy and _this_," Jack held out the rumpled list under his nose, "is _not_ what I meant by ticking each item off, mister! But you will do them, my little linguist, rest assured. You will realize you should've followed the schedule I programmed for you, doing today's and tomorrow's chores all in one day will be very tedious work." Daniel's head shot upwards and he eyed Jack in alarm, he couldn't be serious.

"But…"

Jack shrugged, "it was your choice."

"That brings us to other little concept you seem to be having problems with, 'orders,' orders are not optional, you don't have a choice whether to follow them or not, you follow them! Either here, or off world, whether I am with you or not, 'Cos the consequences if I find out, which, rest assured, I will always find out in the end, will be far worse than the restrictions themselves."

Daniel heard Jack sigh heavily and risked a fleeting peek at his face; seeing the sincere regret reflected back at him caused Daniel to wrap his arms tightly around himself. Worse than any punishment Jack could dish out to him right now, was seeing the that kind of disappointment written all over his face. He'd expected anger, maybe even loathing, like so many foster parents who'd walked away when things turned too rough with the geeky, awkward trouble kid. But seeing the hurt and plain disappointment in Jack's face was something Daniel truly hadn't expected.

Jack must have seen Daniel's resigned expression when he dropped the younger man's collar, some of his anger dissipating in some way.

"Daniel," Jack started in a low, maybe even weary tone, "I realize this must be hard for you, being part of a team, of a family, after all these years of being on your own, but you're not alone anymore. You're part of our team now, and as such you have to--"

"I've worked in teams before, Jack." Daniel interrupted, slightly peeved by Jack's comment. "That's not the problem."

"Then tell me what is the problem?" Jack enquired patiently, his voice soft, understanding even.

"Well, for starters, your lack of trust." All the hurt and resentment that had been building up during the day came to the fore full force now.

"What do you mean, of course I trust you, Daniel."

"Oh, really? Well you could've fooled me yesterday. Sending an SF to make sure I do as ordered is a very odd way of showing it." Daniel's spectacles focused his glare of annoyance with laser intensity on Jack's face.

"Okay, correction, I trust you with my life one hundred percent. But when it comes to your own welfare and following orders, then that's where my complete, unconditional trust starts to waver."

Daniel threw up his hands in despair and disgust, gesturing madly at Jack, a fierce scowl darkening his features before turning his face away. "Oh, that makes me feel much better, thanks."

Jack shook his head, "you're acting like you deserve to be trusted." Jack rose his hand in a placating gesture when he saw the protest building up, "like I said, I trust you with my life, _my_ life being the operative word here! Or Carter's, or Teal'c's or anyone else's but yours. Not that I think you can't take care of yourself." Jack paused. "Although, sometimes I really have my doubts, but all that aside, it's your self sacrificing nature and complete lack of common sense that worries me, I'm still working on your understanding of the concept of basic needs and to be honest I don't think I'm making much progress in that regard either, so until you can prove to me that you won't kill yourself in order to save some stranger on an unknown planet or work yourself into a coma, then things are gonna carry on the way they have been." Jack returned Daniel's glare full force to make his point.

"Then I guess we have a problem." Daniel shot back.

"Is that a challenge?"

"Take it as you want, Jack. I don't care. You are not the boss of me!" Daniel spat into Jack's face.

"Actually, I am." Jack answered in a low, deceivingly controlled voice that only irked Daniel even more.

"Maybe while we're at the SGC, but when we're not at work, you don't have any say in what I can or can't do. I'm not a child!" He gritted out.

"Well, you could've fooled me." Jack retorted in a matter of fact tone.

Daniel flipped out. "Shut up!" he hollered.

Daniel could see Jack was having a hard time holding his own temper as well; he was spitting nails when he answered gravely, "That's enough, Daniel! You either calm down or--"

"Or what?! You gonna spank me again?" He dared.

"Maybe I should." Jack nodded seriously.

Daniel's frown deepened, "Go to Hell, Jack!" he spat with venom.

"That's it! I've had it, Daniel. If you can't hold an adult discussion then get in that corner until you can!" Jack commanded, thrusting his index finger outward indicating the farthest corner of the room.

"Screw you, Jack! I'm not facing any damn corner!"

"Oh, yes you are." Jack nodded severely. "You may not be military, but if you intend to stay on my team you had better shape up and start acting more like it and that means start following orders and regulations like the rest of us."

Jack thrust his hand back forward to grab the younger man's shirt again, but Daniel pulled away, yanking his sleeve fiercely from the colonel's grasp.

"Well, guess what? Maybe I don't want to be part of your lousy team anymore…" Daniel hissed as he moved back further towards the corner, at which point Jack stopped.

Daniel regretted the childish come back as soon as it rolled out of his mouth, because he knew it was a lie, just spiteful words spoken in anger only meant to hurt. He just couldn't believe what he'd just said to Jack, his best friend, someone he loved and looked up to like his own father. Embarrassed at his own behavior, Daniel turned briskly around, his arms held tightly around himself, hoping that earth would just suddenly open up and swallow him whole.

"Why don't you just leave me alone, Jack." He choked out in shame, but secretly wishing Jack would simply ignore his words.

Jack's soft almost inaudible reply finally broke the long, uncomfortable silence that engulfed the two of them. "Maybe I should." And with that, Jack left the room.

Daniel was slightly taken aback by both the tone and Jack's words. He didn't even know where all the anger was coming from, only that he hated it when Jack was right and he wanted to somehow get back at him for not trusting him earlier today. But now, he only wished he could take everything back, turn the clock back and start the day over.

He'd done it; he'd succeeded in pushing Jack away. Like all the others, Jack now realized he was better off without Daniel, he was too much trouble. He just wasn't worth it, and Jack had finally seen that. Daniel had known all along this day was coming; sooner or later he'd be discarded like an old newspaper, no longer wanted or interesting, but even though he'd been preparing himself for it, it still hurt. It hurt a lot.

His self-hug intensified as he tried to bring his quaking body to some semblance of control. His lower lip started trembling uncontrollably and before he knew what was happening, hot tears were streaming down the side of his face. Feeling alone and shattered, he pressed himself to the nearest wall and slowly slid to the floor. It was like losing his parents all over again. He was that scared little kid of all those years ago, lost and alone.

**oOo**

Jack walked purposefully down the corridor and went down the stairs. He was actually livid with rage. He didn't dare go near Daniel for fear he may really hurt him, he needed to cool off and so did the younger man.

Jack knew enough of his friend to know he'd probably be putting himself through his own personal hell right now, but the older man wasn't ready to go back and pick up the pieces just yet. Daniel was right, he wasn't a kid. He'd acted more like some deranged teenager for this last few days, but definitely not an adult in any way, shape or form.

Jack shook his head and took his cell phone out of his pocket before throwing it onto the hall table. The bang was satisfying enough to stop him kicking another piece of furniture. This wasn't really what he wanted to come home too after the mission from hell. He absently wondered when this had turned into some teen tantrum, instead of a discussion to try and understands his friend's mixed up feelings.

Jack paced into the kitchen and snagged a beer from the refrigerator. Slamming the door slightly harder than needed, the colonel twisted the top off and tossed it into the trash. Seeing the sun out and hoping to god Daniel wouldn't bolt from the house, he decided to climb to his deck to try and calm down, the colonel feared he'd break something or somebody if he didn't get out of the way pretty damn quick.

Jack forced himself to sit in the chair on the deck, even though his restless, annoyed body wanted to stalk about and hit things. How could this person have such an intense effect on him? Jack wanted to wring his neck, slap him stupid, knock some sense into him, but he'd held back, he'd been the adult. He would be the adult. The words he spoke to Daniel were true, he trusted him with his life and anyone else's he could name…and not name for that matter and that was the issue, Daniel had problems putting himself first and in doing that, not only endangered himself, but other people too. It wasn't acceptable, it would never be acceptable.

Jack sighed, he loved Daniel. There was no doubt, it was the only reason anyone could have this profound effect on him. The people you love the most also hurt you the most. In Jack's heart he'd adopted a son and he could only hope Daniel had done the same, otherwise, why would he still be here?

Jack and his own father had argued like this, Jack remembered now, it was all much clearer being on the receiving end of those hurtful words. He must have hurt his own father over the years, but that's what kids did as far as the colonel could remember. Charlie had hurt him… Yeah, Charlie was never an angel; he was a kid, like Daniel was a kid in so many ways, maybe not in body, but there was some kid like stuff going on in that mind of his some times.

Jack swiped a stray tear from his cheek and slurped some more beer from the cold brown bottle, dropping it noisily beside him. He wondered what Charlie would have looked like if he'd made it to Daniel's age, probably a lot like his young friend; they had many of the same traits.

Finally, managing to draw some inner clam from the quickly consumed beer, Jack got up, ready to face his linguist head on, they'd argued enough, Jack had had enough. This was not a situation he intended on finding himself in again, not if he had anything to do with it.

As he turned to step down the ladder, a small voice shocked him out of his reflective thoughts, "Jack?"

Jack stumbled on the step before making the last step down, "Daniel?" he managed as he turned to look at the sorry sight that faced him. Daniel's face was red, eyes swollen, tear stains marked his cheeks. His hair being messy, face smeared with dirt and pants ripped from his climbing expedition along with crooked glasses did nothing to take away the 'lost little boy look' that Daniel had going. Standing with his arms tightly wound around his torso and eyes flashing through tear spike lashes, Daniel looked like a teenager in turmoil. It was a heart rending picture of a young man who had been through too much for too long.

Jack had to stop himself from stepping forward to engulf his friend in a hug. He was shocked, but proud in a weird way that Daniel was able to come to him after his outburst. It sure took guts.

"I-I'm sorry, Jack," Daniel whispered before darting his eyes to the floor.

"Are you?" Jack forced the question out as he crossed his arms over his chest, stopping the hugging he so much wanted to do, but he had no intention of making this easy for the kid. This situation had been of Daniel's own making.

Daniel's head bobbed up, his face looking a little shocked, "I… y-yeah, yeah, I am, I'm sorry, really."

Jack coked his head; it was getting harder to hold back, seeing Daniel drawing into himself, Jack made sure his voice had a little edge, he needed to make his point, "So, we can talk like adults now then, Daniel?"

Daniel nodded at his own feet.

"Pardon?" pushed Jack; he had to do this, as much as it hurt him.

"Yes, Sir," came the 'oh so' quiet reply.

Jack walked over and turned the pliant body around by the shoulders, still resisting the temptation to hug his friend, before placing a guiding hand in the middle of his back.

Daniel walked in the direction of the office with the older man's help. His paces were slow and fumbled and he never lifted his head. Jack was a little worried, but before he could offer forgiveness they needed to get a few things straight.

Closing the den door, Jack flicked on the light before drawing up another office chair for his linguist to sit in, "Sit down, Daniel," he encouraged gently guiding the young man down.

The colonel sat and then looked at his friend, it sure was a fearful sight.

"Daniel, you need to look at me."

The younger man's head lifted slightly. Jack could just about make out watery blue eyes peering at him over the top of dirty glasses.

Jack felt the start of a very small smile start to tug at the corners of his mouth, but he stopped it. He couldn't show weakness, not now. When they were done he'd have a real bear hug.

The older man leaned forward and stuck a weathered a finger under Daniel's chin, lifting the nervous eyes to look at him, "Daniel, do you understand why I'm so angry with you?"

"Yes, Sir," Daniel strained slightly, trying to look away, but Jack wasn't willing to let him.

"So what was that all about up there?"

Jack spotted Daniel's shoulders fall away a little, the tension releasing. His hands loosened, before he looked at the older man's face more directly, "I was angry, angry about the SF, the restrictions, not going on the mission, not being allowed to do my job, not being trusted by you. More than anything, not being trusted by you," he sighed.

Finishing, the younger man finally rested his hands together in front of himself, instead of around his middle. Jack knew that Daniel admitting this was cathartic for him in some way.

"But we talked about this; you know why we have the restrictions at the moment. It's meant to be a punishment, Daniel, to make you remember… It's not about me not trusting you, it's about keeping you safe and our team safe."

"I know," the younger man's eyes returned to his now fidgeting hands. Jack knew his friend was probably mentally kicking himself.

"So do you agree it was a childish act, to shout and rant at me when what has happened here today has been of your own making?"

"I was…was trying to make you understand…" Daniel looked back at Jack, pleading a little now.

Jack cut him off, "No, Daniel, no, you weren't," Jack sat up more straight, holding his hand up and dropping his voice an octave, "You ranted, shouted and was generally disrespectful. I'd expect better behavior from a ten year old than what I just got up there from you Daniel, do you understand?"

"Yes, Sir," Daniel's hands were drifting back to his sides; Jack was ready to step in.

"Right, so as I have no intention of letting you get away with this little escapade; while I get dinner, I want you to stand over there," Jack indicated the corner of his den opposite the door, there was no way he was gonna let the defiant little shit think he was going to give up on him now. He pretty much knew how Daniel's mind worked, or was getting a fair idea.

Daniels head bobbed up, but his hands dropped away. Now his mouth dropped open. That was his archaeologist, "Atch! And before you butt in, you can stand and think about your actions." Jack took a slightly more relaxed pose as he leaned back in the chair and waved his hand in front of himself trying to express his thoughts in actions, "I'd say I'll be 30 minutes, tops and then you can do the dishes, your other list of chores can be finished tomorrow, under my supervision because I have stand down."

Now Daniel was looking at him slightly horror struck, this was good, the kid wasn't wrapped up in his own little world anymore, he was wondering at Jack's sanity instead, "And when we've had dinner 'spider geek' we're gonna resume our chat, you know, the one that involves my hand and your butt, remember that one Danny boy?"

Jack gave the his linguist a meaningful look before continuing in the face of the 'o' shape Daniel's mouth was now forming, but still with no words, "And tomorrow, you'll remember all the reasons you were right and I was wrong cos you're gonna be starting another two weeks grounding, at home this time. The gate thing's different, that's a different transgression, so you'll be back on the team as agreed, but by god, if you mess up this royally again kiddo, you won't sit comfortably for weeks, got me?"

Jack was convinced Daniel was now that shocked enough from his intrespection that he still couldn't speak and just nodded at him wide eyed.

Jack got up, leaned forward and grasping Daniel's collar; he'd make sure he had a good hug later, after he'd carried out his fatherly duties.

The colonel dragged Daniel to the corner, "and when were done, you need a shower and an early night, no arguments."

"I…I-I…er, y-yeah, yes, Sir," Daniel stuttered in amazement.

"Okay, kiddo, so are we clear now? You get how this is gonna be and that I'm not willing to let you get away with this stuff?" Jack stood beside Daniel and held a hand on his shoulder, a reassuring, firm pose.

"Yes, Jack, I understand," Daniel offered.

"And I do this because I care, okay? And I will never, ever give up caring about you, Daniel."

With that, Jack gave a quick squeeze and walked away. He felt sure this genius would kill him one day, if not physically then emotionally, "Oh, and Danny?" Jack ventured as he reached the door and looked back.

Daniel turned slightly and met Jack's gaze, "Yeah?"

"I'm proud of you, for coming and talking to me, took some guts considering."

Jack caught a fleeting smile from the younger man as he turned back to the interesting wall and nodded, "Thanks, Jack," he whispered.

Jack grinned and went back to the kitchen, he felt a little happier, but still wanted to have that quiet beer…


	6. Chapter 6

And heres another bit, kids. It's una shmed fluff!! SO i hope you enjoy and keep coming with the feedback, we love it!

* * *

There was a knock at Jacks' door; Daniel heard the tap from his room. The room he'd currently been sent to after the last round of him and Jack dealing with his stupidity.

Why had he let Jack do that? What an earth had made him go back and speak to Jack and not leave?

He stood, looking out the window wondering and wiped a stray tear from his cheek with his sleeve. His eyes were still red rimmed, face blotchy and sticky from the recently shed tears of regret, hurt, embarrassment and shame, not least the pain filled ones from when Jack had made his point rather harshly on his still recovering behind.

In fairness, that he could take, accept even. He struggled with the disappointment; he hadn't seen that for years from anyone. Not over these sort of indiscretions, not over his safety.

Jack didn't care about how good he was at things, whether he was the best. His best was always good enough for the older man, what wasn't acceptable was his indifference to his own safety and Daniel was struggling to get his head around that.

He knew why he hadn't run away; he wanted the family thing, with all its pitfalls. He'd thought he'd pushed Jack away, but Jack was still there and willing to make the effort for him. It would have been easier to run away, but Daniel had a nagging feeling that Jack would have found him anyway and that felt good, because he knew in his heart his own father would have never let him run away either. Not that it was in Daniel's nature to run away from anything, he wasn't a coward, although the family thing scared him, it wasn't something he was familiar with and could control. It appeared Jack was doing all of the controlling at the minute, but looking back at the last few days, he probably had good reason.

"Daniel?"

The small question came from his bedroom door. Daniel darted his head around and readjusted his glasses, "Jack?"

Jack palmed the door open and wandered in, looking at Daniel with concerned eyes, "Are you okay, kiddo?"

"Yeah," he nodded and gave a watery smile.

Without warning, Jack placed a rough hand on the younger mans shoulder and drew him into a huge hug. Nott waiting for permission, Jack had tucked Daniel's head securely into his shoulder and ruffled his hair.

Daniel tried without much effort to pull away, before giving into the tender hold that he sought. More tears were forced from his eyes as Jack uttered the words he now believed to be true.

"I love you, Daniel and no amount of you pushing back against me is ever going to change that, you got me, mister?"

Daniel nodded into his shoulder before feeling the hold loosen a little. He pulled back and then sought his shoes out with his watery eyes again as he mumbled to his make shift father, "I'm sorry, Jack, for everything."

Jack audibly sighed before lifting Daniel's chin and looking into the nervous pale blue eyes, "Hey, I know that, okay. We've dealt with this; it's time to move on."

Daniel smiled a small smile and darted his gaze away again. Jack dropped his hold and ruffled Daniel's hair, "Teal'c's here, he was asking about you, so I've told him your feeling a bit off color. I just thought you should know, okay?"

Daniel felt his face brighten a little, "Can I come and chat about the mission though?"

Jack raised his eyebrows and shook his head, "No, Daniel. You're restricted to here until the morning, remember?"

Daniel sighed in the face of Jack's reminder, damn it, this restriction stuff sucked.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll grab an early night, maybe read. I'll see you in the morning," he sighed dramatically before turning back to the window.

"Okaaaay, I'll let the bit of attitude slide for now and bring you some hot chocolate later."

Jack made his way back towards the door and pulled it closed as Daniel turned and watched him go…"attitude, yeah, well, okay".

He looked at the bed and nearly threw himself at it, but remembered his saw behind and opted for crawling on his front instead. He did feel tired and he needed a shower. If the truth be known, he probably had the start of a saw throat too. Maybe it would be nice to just read and have an early night after all.

0o0

"Drink, T?"

"Thank you, O'Neill." Teal'c moved from the window and nodded slightly as he turned before sitting in the chair that Jack was waving at before he made his way to the kitchen.

Kneeling down, Jack winced as his knee cracked and he absently pushed passed the multitude of fresh soups, cooked meats and Daniel's countless chocolate bars that he insisted on keeping in the fridge.

Pomegranate juice, of all the things for an Alien to want to drink, Jack always kept some in. Teal'c had waxed Lyrical about it after first having some in the mall not long back, 'well,' Jack mused, smiling, 'as much as he alien friend ever got enthusiastic about anything.'

"O'Neill, Will Daniel Jackson not be coming down, even though he is feeling ill? It is unlike him not to want to discuss a mission."

Jack heard the enquiry from the kitchen as he poured drinks, Damn it! He should have known Teal'c wouldn't buy his excuse

Jack wandered into the living room and handed Teal'c his drink before sitting down. He could feel Teal'c eyes on him, the alien had away of seeing past Jack's bluff and bluster on the best of days.

"Well, he was half asleep when I checked in on him, so I left him too it," Jack smiled, not quite meeting Teal'c's eye.

"I believe you care for Daniel Jackson greatly, O'Neill," Teal'c offered after sipping his juice.

Jack's head popped up, 'Whoa, that was a bit out of left field. Where the hell did that come from?'

"Urr…yeah, yeah, I spose I do, T. What makes you say that?" Jack could feel his brow creasing with confusion and wasn't sure as he was happy with the way that this line of enquiry was going.

"You go to great pains to ensure his health and well being, O'Neill. You also continue to let his reside in your home. Your actions are greater than that of just a simple friend."

Jack would have chocked on his coffee, if said person hadn't just appeared at the foot of the stairs looking a little flushed with wet spiky hair from the shower he'd obviously just finished. Daniel in socks, shrunken old sweats and t-shirt was always a site to be seen. It always gave the impression he was a lot younger than he actually was.

"Daniel?"

"Good afternoon Daniel Jackson," Teal'c rumbled.

The younger man seemed to hover around the foot of the stairs as he gave Teal'c a small wave, a half smile and said hi, before making his way to the kitchen and mumbling something about Tynelol.

"Speak of the devil," offered Jack, raising his eyebrows and feeling a little relieved that his stray linguist had just appeared, even though he wasn't supposed to have done.

"I'll just make sure he's okay, T. Won't be a mo." And with that Jack got to his feet. Daniel had looked a little peaky come to think of it.

"Danny? What's up?" Jack made his way up the few steps to the kitchen and spied Daniel leaning in the corner on the counter, downing pills with a glass of water.

"Headache, that's all."

Jack squinted and took in the slightly fevered flush that still touched the younger mans cheeks. He moved over and placed a cool palm on a burning head, "Headache, hur? You feel a little warm."

Daniel managed a tiny smile and ducked his head slightly, "It's nothing, really."

Jack raised his eyebrows and regarded Daniel with a critical eye, "So why didn't you just go to bed and rest? I could have bought the meds up when T had gone."

Daniel's eyes dropped to the floor as he placed one arm around his middle, "I was trying to read, the headache was bothering me."

"No glasses and you just had a shower…" Jack trailed off as he watched Daniel place the glass down and put his other arm around his middle.

"Okay, okay, I was feeling a bit ill and wanted to say hi to Teal'c, happy now?" A petulant tone started creep into Daniel's very slightly raised voice.

"Daniel, what did I say?" Jack warned gently, but using his no nonsense look.

Daniel's head popped up and he glared back at the older man. The fevered tinge to his cheeks did nothing for the soft scowl he was now sporting, "I'm not a kid, Jack."

"No, your not, but this act does nothing to enforce that fact, Daniel. And now you are ill, I'd suggest you go back to bed, pronto." Jack chided quietly.

Daniel pushed away from the counter wincing as his back side brushed the adjoining draw and throwing Jack a hurt filled look, "Fine," he hissed, before wandering from the kitchen.

Jack sighed in his wake, how hard could this be?

"Will you not join us, Daniel Jackson?"

Daniel didn't stop his shuffle towards the stairs, "I can't Teal'c…I, er, I'm not feeling so good. Jack said I should go and lay down."

Teal'c nodded, his lips twitching very minutely, "O'Neill is a very wise man, I believe he is correct, Daniel Jackson. I hope that you are feeling well soon."

Jack didn't miss the sigh that escaped the young man as he started up the stairs, "Yeah, T, thanks. I'll see you soon."

And with that he disappeared, leaving Jack alone with his inquisitive Jaffa once more.

"Daniel Jackson can appear much younger than his years on occasion," Teal'c offered.

Jack's eyebrows crept up his for head; Teal'c sure had a way with words.

"Yeah, I spose he does sometimes." Jack grasped his coffee from the table, hoping Teal'c's line of enquiry might end.

"I believe he treats you as a son does his father. I have had many such conversations with R'yac."

Oh great! The big guy had overheard the conversation. "Well, he just doesn't know when to stop sometimes, that's all big guy."

"I have myself noticed this on occasion and believe you do a god job of guiding our young friend, O'Neill."

Well this was enlightening. Teal'c certainly wasn't stupid, but he was amazed at his intuitiveness.

"Well, someone's gotta look out for him sometimes, hey T?"

"And you are the perfect man to do that, O'Neill. Daniel Jackson will benefit greatly from your guidance." Teal'c picked up his drink and finished the last of what remained. "I will have to leave now, I must kel-no-reem and I believe Daniel Jackson may require your assistance."

Jack tried not to look dumbfounded, but probably failed woefully as Teal'c got to his feet and Jack followed.

"Ur, thanks T, I'll…ur, give Danny your best wishes.

As the door shut, Jack leaned heavily against it and ran a hand through his hair. Teal'c never failed to amaze him. Mind you, Daniel didn't either.

Thinking of his bundle of trouble, Jack made his way up the stairs, ready for round two of bickering with the kid, but as he pushed the door open, he noticed the curtains were drawn and there lay a gently snoring archaeologist.

Jack sidled up to the bed and looked down at the half covered face, a bundle of sheet and comforter pulled up around the light brown bangs. He must have been feeling a little off color to be sleeping this early. Jack smiled and without thinking, brushed Daniels hair away from his face. Trouble with a capital 'T'

, but he loved him all the same…


	7. Chapter 7

More fluff...tee hee...Okay okay! I was feeling ill when i wrote it! Stop tutting and read it already will ya! hugs...heheee!

* * *

"Daniel, grab the pizza menu will ya?"

Daniel was dozing on the sofa; he had the most appalling cold and had managed to help to do some cleaning chores, but had collapsed on the soft cushions not long after. Sniffing and hacking, Daniel managed to pry himself from his comfortable position and peer over the back on the chair at Jack.

The older man was putting drinks and ice cream away ready for Sam and Teal'c to visit later in the evening.

Daniel waited for a moment until Jack stopped and looked with concern at the bloodshot eyes that were peering back at him.

"Jack?" Daniel coughed and spluttered before rubbing his runny eyes.

"Danny? You still no better, kiddo?"

Daniel gave a wan smile, "feeling a bit rough, Jack, that's all."

"Shall I cancel Sam and Teal'c coming over, if you're not up to company?" Jack closed the refrigerator door, but not before grabbing a root beer for his sorry looking archaeologist.

Daniel pulled himself to a sitting position and shook his head before resting his face in his hands, "No, no. Don't do that, I'll take some Tenelol. I'll be fine, really."

Jack rolled his eyes, "You were looking pretty off color at the supermarket, Daniel. Maybe you'd be best resting up in bed?"

Daniel didn't miss the eye roll, "Honestly, I'll be okay, Jack. I've been looking forward to this evening; we haven't had a team night for so long."

SG1 had experienced some pretty difficult missions over the last few months, not least Jack, who had bore the brunt of most of the disasters that had befallen the team.

Seeing his son morphed from a dyeing alien had deeply disturbed Jack who had to a large degree withdrawn for a few days after would. So much so that Daniel had felt it necessary to stay out of the way and had been about to go and stay with Sam, which had apparently snapped the older man out of his personal hell.

Daniel recalled the harsh words when Jack found him with his rucksack in hand calling the Captain, "Daniel, why the hell would I want you to move out, even for a week? I've lost one son through my own stupidity, I'll be damned if I'm going to push another away." And with that, Jack had engulfed the young man in a hug that expressed everything that Daniel and Jack needed to be reassured of.

Day's after that and another mission, but this time Jack was aging fast and they couldn't stop it. Daniel thought Jack was dying, they all thought he was dying. The order to leave the planet due to possible contagions was the hardest command that Daniel had ever had to follow.

Daniel's tears had flown freely whenever he wasn't working to try and help solve the problem, but thankfully Sam and Janet had saved the day, Jack had recovered. It had taken a few days, but after an emotional reunion with Daniel, Jack had declared this weekend was definitely team time. They'd been through a lot emotionally and some bonding was sure in order, but now, Daniel had the cold from hell and he didn't want to miss this team night for anything…

Jack shrugged and cocked his head, "Okay, I'll cut you a deal, you take some pain meds and have a lay down for an hour before they come over and the party's still on, okay?"

Daniel nodded and smiled, he couldn't deny that sounded good, "Okay, Jack. Deal."

Jack made his way back to the kitchen and grabbed the pills before going and giving them to Daniel. The younger man nodded his appreciation and popped the tablets in his mouth before taking a mouthful of root beer.

"Thanks Jack," he smiled and made his way to his feet before shuffling to the stairs, "I'll be back in an hour then?"

Jack nodded and grinned, "Okay, Danny, sleep tight."

Daniel turned and returned the gesture, "I'm going for a lay down, not bed for the night, Jack, it's only six."

Jack's grin widened, "Whatever you say, kiddo. I'll shout when they turn up."

Daniel shook his head as he made his way to his room and his cosy welcoming double bed that had now been put in his sanctuary. This was home now. Maybe not forever, but he felt more at home here than he had done anywhere since Egypt and even there, he lived in tents erected on digs mostly.

What was more, he felt he belonged here. All the agony of accepting Jack's mollycoddling and worrying had been worth the pain. This man loved him for just being him, no more, no less and Daniel felt the same way. Jack was fast becoming the adopted father Daniel never found, even if it was a bit late in the day.

Daniel slipped his sweater off, before lying down and drawing his knees up to his chest. He watched the curtains flutter in the light wind and the late afternoon sun dapple the walls as he drifted to sleep.

o0o

There was a light knock at the door, catching Jack's attention as he emptied chips into a bowl.

The smile grew on his face as he quickly checked his watch before making to answer the door. Sleeping beauty had been away in fairy land for over an hour and a half.

He greeted Sam and Teal'c at the door enthusiastically, knowing that all of his team had been worried for him after the last mission, not just Daniel.

"Carter, T!! Come on in. Hey! You bought cheese cake! I know one excitable archaeologist whose gonna love that!"

Jack waved his guests into the living room and took the offerings into the kitchen.

"Where is Daniel, sir?" enquired Carter as she scanned the room, not able to see any sign of the younger man.

Jack stuck his head out from the kitchen, "He's having a nap, Carter."

Sam grinned without reserve, "A nap?"

Jack swiped some beer from the fridge, before making his way into the living room, "Yup, a nap. He's got a bad cold, I was thinking of cancelling, but he wouldn't hear of it. I'll go get him up in a minute."

"Daniel Jackson is unwell, O'Neill?" rumbled Teal'c as he took the proffered drink.

Jack nodded and patted Teal'c's large arm, "Yeah, big guy, just a virus, he'll get over it."

Teal'c gave his regal nod in understanding.

"Right, you guys take a seat; I'll go get sleeping beauty."

Sam waited for a moment as Teal'c started towards the sofa and Jack made his way to the stairs, "Urr, sir," called Sam, "don't get him up yet, we can order his pizza. He may feel better if he grabs a few more minutes," she smiled understandingly, always concerned for her adopted little brother.

"Don't panic, Carter, I'll check on him. He'd never forgive me if he knew you where here and I hadn't at least looked to see if he was awake," Jack offered over his shoulder as he rounded the corner.

Quietly palming the door open and peered into the slightly darkened room, Jack could see a curled up, gently snoring Daniel on the large bed. The bunged up nose was obviously giving him trouble.

Jack carefully made his way over and unconsciously placed his palm on the younger mans brow. He didn't feel to warm, so deciding that the kid was fast asleep and best left for the present, Jack plucked the comforter from the foot of the bed and gently spread it over Daniel. The action caused the younger man to stir very slightly, but only to turn his face further into the soft pillow and bring his hand to cover his face slightly.

Jack stood for a few more seconds and watched as the sleeping form returned back to the gentle snuffles of restful sleep he'd heard on entering the room. Daniel looked so young with the strands of dark hair covering his slightly feverish blotchy cheeks and curled up so small. It nearly hurt to see him like this; it evoked such vivid memories of his lost son. I t also served to enforce how much Jack cared for his wayward linguist.

Jack smiled, "I'll come get you in a bit, kiddo. Sweet dreams," he whispered. He was nearly induced to drop a quick kiss on Daniel's head, but knew it would probably disturb him.

As he made his way back into the living room, Jack was still smiling.

"Sir? Is he okay?" Sam asked, slightly concerned.

Jack grabbed his beer from the coffee table and sat down, "Yeah, yeah, Carter, he's fine. Just sleeping well, I'll go get him when the food arrives."

"May I ask what you're smiling about, sir?"

Jack grinned at her and Teal'c who was now regarding him with a quizzical look, "It's good to be back with the family again, that's all," Jack assured.

"We are glad to have you back also, O'Neill," Teal'c offered sincerely.

"Here, here!" nodded Sam as she held her beer bottle up in salute to the colonel.

Jack rolled his eyes and then grabbed the pizza menu, "Okay, okay, can we order dinner now, I'm starving."

"I will have my usual, O'Neill," offered Teal'c who was now reaching into his shoulder bag that he'd bought with him. Jack had glanced over and thought how un-Teal'c like a 'man bag' was, but hadn't commented.

"I'll share the ham and pineapple with Daniel sir, but we need extra cheese," she grinned.

Jack nodded and flicked the menu over, finding what he was looking for to accompany his chili beef pizza. Garlic bread with cheese, just what the doctor ordered, thought Jack as he made his way to the telephone and rang their local takeaway.

While he was finishing up on the phone he could hear Sam talking to Teal'c and then a muffled laugh.

Jack wandered back over to the chair and then perched his long legs on the edge of the coffee table, "Okay, what's going on?" Jack enquired nonchalantly as he took another swig of his beer.

Sam continued to smile while flashing a look at Teal'c and the video tape that he now held in his hand.

Jack squinted at it, "T, you do know I now actually have a DVD player, right?"

The corner of Teal'c's mouth turned up slightly, that was like a full blown smile as far as Jack was concerned, "Indeed, O'Neill."

Sam giggled and covered her mouth before reaching forward to retrieve her own drink.

Jack frowned, knowing that whatever this particular Jaffa joke was, would obviously be on him, (he'd have to ask Teal'c about Jaffa jokes,) he thought for a second before regarding his alien friend with a wave of his beer bottle, "What's with the tape thingy then, big guy?"

Teal'c leaned forward and offered said tape to his friend, "I recovered this video cassette from General Hammond; he thought that it would be appropriate for our evening's viewing."

Jack dropped his feet to the floor and absently shook his beer bottle, confirming the contents where now gone before taking the cassette from his friend.

"Cacoon?" There was a small silence while Jack thought back to seeing the film. In the meantime, Sam nearly choked on her beer.

Then Jack realized, "Oh-for-crying-out-loud!" He squinted at the picture and then shook it at Sam, "But these guys were made to feel younger by the aliens, not older," Jack grinned and then sighed, groaning, "Back atcha George."

"I never thought the general had it in him," smiled Sam, grabbing the tape from Jack's hands and inspecting the cover.

Teal'c nodded and Jack got to his feet, "Yeah, yeah, Carter. We'll watch it if you want. Anymore beer you guys?"

As Jack made his way to the kitchen, the door bell rang and Sam made her way to collect the pizza.

Returning with the drinks, Jack spotted his snotty linguist on the stairs, only to be greeted with a barked cough and a wheezed greeting, "Hey you guys," Daniel sniveled with a small wave.

"Hey, Daniel!" Sam bounded over after depositing the pizzas on the table and gave the younger man a hug, "How you feeling?"

He smiled weakly and coughed again, "I'll be fine," he mumbled into his fist.

Sam released her hold and Jack saw his chance and passed the drinks to Sam. He placed a guiding hand in the middle of his friends back and steered him over to the sofa. Teal'c had already vacated the spot at the end and plumped the cushions up against the arm.

"Come on, Danny. Sit down and put your feet up. I'll get you pizza and a juice so that you can watch the movie with us."

Sam in the meantime hurried away to fetch plates while Teal'c looked at the VCR.

"Jack, I'm okay, really. I can sit you don't have to fuss."

There was a minor whine in Daniel's voice as he was cajoled into putting his feet up and sneezed rather loudly.

"Daniel." _Do as you're told._

"Jack?" _What? I feel ill, I'm really trying here._

"Come on, Danny. I'm worried about ya. Let us look after you for once."

Daniel sighed deeply as Teal'c turned and made his way to an armchair, "I believe O'Neill is correct Daniel Jackson, you need to rest."

Daniel managed a slightly embarrassed glance through his eyelashes in Teal'c's direction as he heard the minor admonishment, "Yeah, Teal'c I know. Thanks guys, I'll get comfortable here," he croaked.

"Okay, kiddo," Jack smiled, leaning forward to ruffle his hair, "Juice?"

"Beer?"

Jack raised his eyebrows, "What and have Janet serve me my head on a platter? No way hose, it's juice or water for you my little linguist. Tenelol, remember?" Jack added as he saw a disappointed frown crease the younger mans brow.

Daniel nodded into his chest as he tugged some tissues from the newly repositioned coffee table, "K, but I want grape juice, orange is getting real old," he mumbled.

"Grape juice coming up, oh sickly one," chirped Jack. "How's that pizza coming, Carter? A man could starve to death here ya know."

Jack nabbed a slice as he passed. Sam had finished placing some pieces on the plates and was making her way towards the sofa.

"Hey," she scolded playfully and tapped his hand away before passing out the plates and lifting Daniel's feet up to sit on the end of the chair.

Daniel sneezed and coughed all at the same time, before regarding the food before him with mixed interest, "I thought the sofa was mine, Sam? What happened to looking after me?"

"I'm not sitting on the floor even for you, Daniel and you know how Colonel grumpy gets when you sit in his spot," she grinned.

That induced a wheezy laugh from the linguist and an appraising look from the Jaffa who was now tucking into the food.

"You did not wish to be looked after, Daniel Jackson?" observed Teal'c.

Daniel sighed, Sam smiled and Jack came and placed two more pills on the table next to Daniel along with the requested Grape juice.

"Hey, stop bickering you two," Jack chided lightly as he made himself comfortable in the chair, "Else you'll be going back to bed early, Einstein."

Daniel picked up the pizza and nibbled the edge, the cheese stretching as he tried to put it back on the plate, "What about, Sam? I get to go bed early and she gets to watch the movie? That's not fair," he playfully whined.

"Nope, Sam gets sent home with Uncle Teal'c. So behave, both of you," Jack grinned.

"O'Neill, do you wish me to start the movie?" Teal'c revealed the long lost VCR remote.

"Okay, big guy. You ready, kids?" Jack looked at Sam and Daniel as they both munched through their pizza enthusiastically.

They both nodded and Teal'c jabbed the ancient controls making the cassette whir and clunk.

#

An hour later and the plates where now stacked on the coffee table, Sam was gently rubbing Daniel's leg, Jack had made a few beer runs and all was quiet apart from the snot induced growling of a sleeping archaeologist.

Jack chanced a glace at his kid; he still looked a sorry state. His face was blotchy and pink and a small trail of drawl trickled down his chin as he slept. His head was tilted to one side as he half sat, but at least Teal'c had managed to retrieve the younger mans glasses after he'd first nodded off.

Sam still rubbed small circles on Daniel's leg and doubted she realized what she was doing. Daniel's t-shirt had ridden up revealing his belly button and his sweats had ridden up around his calves. Daniel's arm had lolled off of his chest and now rested on the coffee table while his other arm was resting somewhere over the top of his head, yup the kid looked a picture of young and ill.

If Daniel hadn't been ill, Jack might have even have taken his picture, but for now, his main concern was getting his little genius to bed and he doubted rousing him was an option.

"T? Would you help me get Danny to bed, I think he's done."

The question made Sam jump and look at the subject she was still sitting partially under.

"Aww," she cooed, "he looks so peaceful."

"Yeah, Carter, he also needs to go to bed, he'll wake up with cricked neck to go with that cold if we don't move him now."

She smiled at Jack, obviously thinking how thoughtful her commanding officer could be for such a hard ass military man, but she knew Daniel was special too him.

"I would be honored, O'Neill," and with that, Teal'c got to his feet and scooped the sleeping man from the chair with ease.

Jack couldn't help the surprised look that came over his face. Teal'c made it look like he was picking up a child, not a six foot archaeologist, "Urr, I was gonna help, big guy."

Teal'c nodded, "I will follow you to Daniel Jackson's quarters so that you may make him comfortable, O'Neill."

Jack cocked his head and then lead the way, Teal'c had him already, he could do that.

When they reached the room, Jack turned back the sheets and patted them down before quickly puffing up the pillows, "There you go big guy, you can put him down now."

Teal'c carefully placed the still sleeping Daniel in the bed. For his part the younger man hadn't even stirred.

"I will return to watch the movie, O'Neill," offered Teal'c with a small bow.

"Thanks, T," whispered Jack, barely dragging his gaze from the young man on the bed.

Jack didn't here his alien friend leave the room, he was to busy tucking in the sleeping linguist. Before he left, he carefully placed the glasses on the night stand and brushed Daniel's bangs away from his slightly sweaty face.

Unable to resist, Jack leaned forward and placed a small kiss on Daniel forehead, "Sweet dreams, son," he whispered.

Daniel stirred briefly and turned towards the touch, "Nigh, da," came the muffled reply.

Jack stood for a moment before a hot tear coursed down his cheek. His heart ached with the memories of his son and these precious moments he'd shared with him, but leapt with joy with the realization that he was getting a second chance to be a father again.

He was a very lucky man…


	8. Chapter 8

Here it is peeps, sorry its been so god damn long coming. Dead busy and as authors being plastered at all corners of the globe can be an issue sometimes...hehe! Hope you enjoy!

* * *

Daniel came to consciousness by degree's, he could feel the soft sheets against his skin, the mattress engulfing his body and snuggled further into the duck down pillows, subconsciously still soaking up the warmth and security of restful sleep

Daniel came to consciousness by degrees; he could feel the soft sheets against his skin, the mattress engulfing his body and snuggled further into the duck down pillows, subconsciously soaking up the warmth and security of restful sleep.

Drawing his knees up a little closer, Daniel hooked a finger over the top of the covers, poking his sore nose out and feeling the coolness of the room prickle it, making him feel like sneezing. A chink of light spilt through the heavy curtains. He snuggled down again and snuffled, catching the scent of the warm pillow…or trying too…_ 'Hang on, when did he come to bed?'_

His sleep addled mind started to try and draw pieces together, but failed. Daniel smiled, it was pointless, he couldn't remember- at the moment anyway and if the truth be known, didn't particularly care. He'd just lay here and enjoyed the warmth, comfort and security. The pain of the sore throat only nagged slightly at the edges of his consciousness, so he rolled over and tugged the covers closer.

As he was drifting back to sleep, a thought worked its way into the corner of his mind, Jack, must have put him to bed when he fell asleep in front of the TV; he smiled… With that, distant dreams returned.

o0o

"Danny?"

Daniel sighed and then pulled the covers a little further over his head; he was far too comfortable to answer.

"Danny."

Well, that sounded a little more persistent, "Ummmm," was all he managed.

"Daniel."

Ahh. That was Jack, without a doubt. Why did he sound…impatient? Yes, that was it. Daniel's finely tuned 'Jack sense' picked up the impatience in the mere utterance of his own name and his proper name at that.

Daniel rolled slowly onto his back, trying to drag back the remembrances of what had occurred the day before. The fuzz surrounded his brain recalled the team night, feeling grotty (that's where he obviously fell asleep)…Ummm, what happened before that?

Crap! Oh double crap! The neighbour's dog…he couldn't have found out about that, surely?

'Nope,' thought Daniel, now was the time to play dumb. Maybe it was something else, the mess in the spare bathroom, or his room, or something else…

His hands slowly worked there way to his face; morning stubble, nope, not a dream. His mood plummeted along with his hand as it dropped against the plush covers.

Stretching dramatically and spotting the stern looking man not far away through a squint induced yawn, Daniel tried a small smile, a sniff and a, 'Hi.'

"Get up, Daniel." Jack dropped his arms, turned and left the room. "Breakfast, ten minutes." The holler was sharp and to the point as Daniel listened to the retreating mans footsteps.

Daniel sighed and threw back the covers. There was no chance of a lay in now, as much as his aching body desired it. He felt like he'd run a marathon.

Flashes of the previous day's events started to seep back into his mind. He winced at his persistence to rescue the stupid dog. Daniel loved dogs; Mrs. Mahoney's dog was no exception. The next door neighbor was a lovely retired lady, she went to great pains to bring Jack cookies more often than not and when she met Daniel, the flavor changed…pecan and chocolate, his favorite. Funnily enough Mrs. Mahoney had assumed that Daniel was Jack's nephew or relation and Jack never corrected her, but the dog, she was gorgeous. A chocolate Labrador called Amber.

Within weeks Daniel had taken to going and walking the dog in the park when Mrs. Mahoney couldn't get out. Jack had suggested it and Daniel had groaned, but soon found it to be a pleasure. She helped him to relax, they played fetch, laid in the sunshine together and Daniel found her to be most attentive when he needed an ear that didn't answer back or lecture.

But yesterday, before they'd gone shopping, he'd taken the dog out walking, no biggy. He also had the start of the niggling cold that Jack had noticed and complained about when he'd said he was going out in the bitter wind, but it had been nothing horrendous, so he'd gone anyway.

Daniel recalled Jack standing at the door frowning and in full paternal mode as he put his coat on. Jack had leaned forward to zip it up. Daniel had grinned and batted the older mans hands away, "I'll be fine, Jack," he'd assured.

Jack had sighed and shouted after him, "You know we have important stuff to do in a few days, Danny. Don't do anything stupid and make yourself worse."

"Umm," mused the younger man, Jack's intuition was too uncanny for words sometimes.

Later, he and the dog had arrived at the park and all was well until the stick accidentally went in the water. Not a real issue, it just meant washing the dog when they got back. That was until the dog started to struggle and Daniel started to panic. Once the dog had gone under a few times, that was it; Daniel was in the water, wading and then swimming, dragging the dog out. It turned out the dog was fine, probably playing and would have most likely come out in its own time.

Mrs. Mahoney had scolded him herself on his return.

The dog had happily trotted in after stopping on the mat and having a good shake. Not that it mattered to Daniel, a few extra drops of water was nothing when you were soaked to the skin and freezing.

That incident was only the start of his worries though. His ensuing argument with the local police officer after than man had waded in a near enough dragged Daniel out had been some what explosive.

The man had insisted on helping and fairly well dragged Daniel out of the lake. Daniel hadn't wanted the fuss and stated some what forcibly that he'd rather just make his way home and get dried off.

"Son, you'll catch pneumonia," the graying gentleman had smiled.

"I'm fine," Daniel had stated, only to be overtaken by several strong sneezes.

The policeman then grasped Daniel's forearm and pointed him in the direction of his vehicle. Daniel, however, was having none of it.

"Let me take you home, where do you live?" the policeman had insisted.

"Really, I'm fine, I'll walk." Daniel had said pulling away.

The policeman had done that look that Jack does. The, I'm-not-taking-any-more-crap look before grasping the younger man's arm again. "Do I have to restrain you for your own good to get you in the car, son?"

Daniel's temper was bubbling, he just wanted to walk home and forget the whole incident, "You wouldn't?" he exclaimed, his teeth now chattering.

"Yes, I would. I've dealt with enough mule headed youths to know what to do with them, now what's you name?"

Daniel was beside himself, mule headed youth? "I'm not telling you," Daniel had stated finally setting his jaw and squinting his eyes.

"So now you're refusing to give information to a law enforcement officer?" the policeman had asked looking rather disappointed and more than a little annoyed.

Daniel's head had dropped to the floor, his soggy sneakers looking terribly interesting now, "I am, can I go now, sir?" he'd asked bitterly.

"No, because now I'm taking you into my custody for your own good and if you don't tell me at least where you live, I'll arrest you," the policeman had stated matter of factly.

Daniel's head bobbed up at that, his mouth flapping, eyes wide with shock, "You can't do that!"

"I can, now get in the car."

With that a shocked and half frozen Daniel, now with a police issue blanket wrapped around his shoulders, was propelled towards the awaiting vehicle. The dog had followed; tail wagging and the policeman patted her head and offered her a Twinkie on entering the car's front seat.

Daniel sighed and slumped into the back seat, having now finally giving up the requested information. He started to feel awful and pretty stupid to-boot. He had done one thing though, made sure he was dropped off around the corner from Mrs. Mahoney's, Jack would have gone postal if he'd seen him or found out about the incident, he definitely thought this was one to be filed away for a later date.

Spotting the old lady coming to the door looking rather shocked by Daniel's appearance, the policeman had smiled at Mrs. Mahoney, patted Daniel on the back and muttered something about talking to her grandson regarding not pulling stunts like that on his watch again any time soon and the importance of listening to police officer rather than giving them lip.

Daniel had all but rolled his eyes, ducked his head and let the Mrs. Mahoney tug his shoulders bringing him into the much warmer hallway. He wasn't even going to bother to tell the man he wasn't the woman's grandson, he'd probably have been hassled more for that anyway.

The old lady led him to the living room, depositing him in front of the fire and brushed an aged hand with skin that looked like crumpled silk, gently through his hair. He'd smiled at her gentleness and delicate touch only to be frowned back at by knowing hazel eyes. While Daniel sat shivering, his hands still gripping the police issue coarse blanket, Mrs. Mahoney carefully took his glasses from his face before she offered her scolding, "She's done it before lovey. She would have come out. Look at you! You'll catch your death! Go and shower while I dry your clothes."

Unable to offer a defense, he did as he was asked and hoped to god that this kind lady wouldn't tell Jack of his idiocy.

When he'd come down, his clothes were drying and Mrs. Mahoney had sat him before her fire with hot chocolate and cookies, "Not that you deserve it," she'd muttered, "being cheeky to policeman is no way to carry on young man."

The woman stood before him, her grey hair piled high, with all the elegance of a woman half her age as she wagged a warning finger at him and scowled. He felt like a naughty ten year old and stared into his mug of steaming chocolate knowing she was right. "I'm sorry," he'd offered quietly and her face had melted into a warm smile as he sneezed again and she patted his back.

"As long as you're okay, Daniel, that's all that matters." And he'd grinned back, now full of mucus and with a terrible sore throat.

But, that was yesterday and he'd really felt a prize fool after the incident and now he'd probably have the full blown flu when they were expected to leave for a mission tomorrow.

One of his less endearing traits was to be rash, sometimes in the face of common sense. Now it appeared he'd be paying the price.

He sighed dramatically again and sat up, swinging his legs off the bed before wiggling his toes in the fluffy carpet. A shower seemed like a good idea, after all, he didn't think that Jack could be much more annoyed than he currently was, if that was the reason for his apparent mood.

His slightly blurred vision took in the t-shirt and boxers, Jack must have helped him undress as well. He dropped his head forward and shook it, snatching his glasses from the night table to put them on. Jack must think him a complete idiot…

"Daniel, I don't hear the shower…" The voice echoed up the stairs and Daniel rolled his eyes before standing and lolloping to the bathroom. 'Face the music,' he huffed.

o0o

Jack scooped the pancakes onto the plate and turned to face the table. He managed to stop himself jumping at the sudden appearance of Daniel. The younger man was now seated at the table and twiddling with his fork, eyes downcast.

Jack observed the posture and knew that Daniel was obviously thinking things through and probably not up for chatting at the moment. Not that that was going to make a bit of difference to Jack. He had a few choice things to say regardless of the younger man's current wishes.

Jack made his way over and placed the plate in front of Daniel without a word. He then sat down himself and grabbed his coffee to take a quick drink. Daniel, for his part, glanced quickly at Jack over the top of his glasses and sneezed before stabbing the pancakes and wiping up the syrup that pooled at the edges of the plate.

"How are you feeling?" Jack asked the question softly as he watched the younger man tucking into his food without complaint.

Daniel's head bobbed up. He looked at Jack cautiously.

"Uh huh," he offered through a mouthful of food.

Jack sighed, he was hard pushed to believe what had happened yesterday afternoon. Even his ten year old son wouldn't have been that stupid, regardless of how brave it appeared to others.

"You have a voice, Daniel," Jack pointed out me forcefully.

Daniel sat up more this time, grabbed a napkin wiping his mouth and rolled his eyes, "Yes, Jack, I'm fine." He sounded sarcastic and over exaggerated.

Jack raised his eyebrows and scowled in the direction of his young friend.

"You won't mind cleaning out the garage today then, will you?" Jack smiled with saccharine sweetness.

He could see the cogs turning in his genius's mind. Jack knew damn well Daniel must have been feeling rotten, he certainly looked like crap last night, but after the last batch of cookies, along with advice on archaeologists, dogs and not entering lakes in the bitter cold, Jack thought he deserved a little suffering. In fact, there'd be a whole lot more by the end of the day if someone didn't spill the beans on his current escapade.

"I'm kind of feeling a little ill here, Jack," Daniel grimaced.

'I bet you are,' thought Jack. "And why would that be, Daniel?"

Jack could see the, oh-that's-a-rhetorical-question look pass over Daniel's face. Something about the eyebrows gave it away.

"I have a cold?" the younger man muttered into his breakfast.

"Daniel." The warning was oh so clear, loud and clear for even the thickest skinned of archaeologists.

Daniel managed to look up and meet Jack's eye with a look of annoyed-ness that the older man recognised. This was usually a pre curser to a Daniel lecture/ tantrum, depending on your point of view.

The younger man managed to sneeze, wipe his nose without thinking on his cuff and fiddle with his glasses all at the same time before starting his plea for understanding that he definitely wasn't going to get.

"I didn't mean to be rude to the officer, Jack." Daniel almost whined, flashing his baby blues at the colonel.

"Pardon?" the older man asked, slightly confused.

"The police officer, it was stupid, he was trying to help," Daniel winced.

'This was new,' surmised Jack. 'Please tell me he didn't get in trouble with the police,' Jack grimaced to himself. The younger man obviously thought that Jack already knew this, so Jack would let him continue and ring his skinny neck after!

Jack raised an eyebrow and put his expectant parent look on, he'd done it with Charlie on numerous occasions, it seemed to work on his linguist too.

Jack watched the younger man shrinking into his chair, his eyes dart to the table top as he prodded the half eaten breakfast.

"I did say sorry, Jack. It was a misunderstanding, really," the younger man almost pleaded.

"What did he do, Daniel?" Jack asked with some force continuing the ruse that he apparently had been told all of this by one very nice old lady, which he hadn't.

Daniel gave a self depreciating smile and met Jack's glare briefly, "Well, he was going to arrest me," Jack couldn't stop the expression that flashed across his face, the one that promised a frank discussion with his friend's backside in the not to distant future. Daniel cut in hurriedly and held his hand up to Jack, his eyes wide, voice an octave higher, " He didn't Jack, he just drove me back to Mrs Mahoney's who dried me out and-and then we went shopping," he finished more quietly his head dropping again.

'So,' thought Jack, not only had his archaeologist jumped into a lake on a freezing Fall day to rescue a dog, but he'd also nearly got arrested by the local law enforcement officer. Wouldn't that have looked great on his military records!

Jack was speechless and pretty much glued to the spot while Daniel sneezed, coughed and continued to probe his food seemingly uninterested in eating it now.

"I didn't know about the officer, Daniel," Jack eventually said rather pointedly.

Daniel nearly fell of the chair with shock, "You didn't?"

"No." Jack shook his head and ran his hands through his hair, leaning back slightly.

"Oh," was all the younger man managed.

"Would you have told me, if you'd thought that I didn't know?" Jack asked pinning his friend with a glare that demanded truth.

Daniel's eyes darted away as his hands played with the fork, "N-no, probably not," he stuttered not looking at Jack.

"So that's why you came back from Mrs. Mahoney's like everything was okay? You were afraid to tell me?" Jack asked, concern now edging his anger.

Daniel managed a confused look now looking into Jack's eyes, "No, no, of course not. I-I just knew you'd be annoyed and I didn't want to ruin the team night is all."

Daniel was lapsing into his self hug, a sure sign he was feeling insecure and probably annoyed with himself.

"Well, you know what's gonna happen now, Danny. For a start, you're grounded for two weeks, here," Jack said sincerely.

Daniel looked at Jack in horror, "You're kidding?"

"Nope, I don't kid, Danny, you should know that."

"Don't you think I've been punished enough?" questioned Daniel, a definite edge to his voice now.

A shouting match, great, just what he needed on a Sunday morning. Well, he wasn't going to let this continue, that was for sure. "No Daniel, as a matter of fact I don't. The whole dog incident was stupid on your part, but you meant well I suppose, but nearly getting arrested?"

Jack didn't manage to finish his point when the linguist leapt in all but shouting and now pacing with annoyance for effect.

"I've got the cold from hell, got hassled and dragged around by a police officer and then told off like a naughty kid by Mrs. Mahoney and now you want to ground me…cause I'm so obviously the target for all of your stupid paternal mollycoddling!"

Jack got to his feet, squinting at the now retreating back of his friend. He wasn't up for this. Daniel was wrong and he was going to make sure he realized it.

Grasping his un-expecting friend by the shoulder, Jack roughly directed his friend towards one of his most uninteresting corners of the living room and delivered one firm and scorching swat to Daniel's backside. "You, little boy can cut the attitude and stand there to think about your actions. Just remember, if you'd have been arrested, how would that have looked to the military? And, let's not forget, you as good as lied to me! So can it Daniel! Half an hour and if you move a muscle there's more where that came from!"

Jack then ignored the complaints, deciding that clearing the breakfast things may stop imminent murder or at least a count of grievous bodily harm.

o0o

"Hey! Ow!" was all Daniel managed before Jack's lecture had kicked in. He just couldn't help himself and as the colonel's words came with all their biting truth, Daniel internally kicked himself. That didn't stop his smart mouth opening one more time though, "I couldn't give a damn about the military, sir," he spat with venom.

Not his smartest move, he had to admit. Jack had a point after all, he'd never want to jeopardize his job.

thwack he jumped, "Bastard." His hand thrust back to protect his posterior. The thin sweats did nothing to protect him from Jack's strong right arm.

"Damn it Daniel," Jack warned, "Cut the crap or god help me you won't sit for a week! You know damn well I'm right!"

Yup, Jack sounded really pissed now. Maybe now was the time to stop fighting the man? If he'd kept his temper before he probably wouldn't be standing here. He certainly wouldn't be nursing a stinging behind.

Thirty minutes later and he was released from his personal hell, his head was starting to bang, he'd wiped his nose on his sleeve numerous times through lack of suitable tissues and he generally felt sorry for himself.

Jack however hadn't sat down with him or asked how he was. He'd just told him to go to bed rather gruffly before returning to doing the laundry in the basement.

In fairness Daniel felt that ill, he took the Motrin Jack had thrust in his had with a glass of water and traipsed back up the stairs without complaint. He knew Jack was disappointed with him, so he'd put up with it for now. Being grounded always sucked for sure, but feeling like he did at the moment, all he wanted was his warm, comfortable bed and to go back to sleep.

o0o

Two hours later, Jack had completed his Sunday chores without the aid of his usually bubbly and happy helper. Instead his chastised friend was probably sleeping and full of cold.

Jack was disappointed that Daniel hadn't told him of the incident and even more annoyed when he admitted he wouldn't have if he'd thought he could get away with it. But isn't that what kids do?

He knew Danny wasn't a kid, although he did act that way on occasion. That was usually when Jack stepped in and treated him like the ten year old that appeared to blossom in the young man's body. Jack knew that in some ways Daniel was emotionally immature. He'd never had the care and guidance of adults that loved and cherished him. They'd looked after him, clothed and fed him, but that was it and it showed. Jack doubted that Daniel realized just how much it showed, but it was obvious to him. And it was at times like this it shone out.

Jack worried about how he dealt with his friend sometimes, but there was enough age and experience between them to make them as good as father and son. Daniel was still here and obviously accepted the treatment for what it stood for… love.

And that was also why, when the kid was feeling better, he was going to do some more butt warming, just to make sure he got the message loud and clear that not telling Jack the truth and arguing with people in authority was definitely not acceptable or advisable.

Jack shook his head and smiled, the kid was incorrigible. He stirred the steaming hot chocolate, placing it on the tray. Picking up the 'Mac and Cheese' he'd whipped up from the box along with a few more Motrin, he made his way up the stairs.

Gently tapping the half open bedroom door and softly calling his friend's name, Jack headed into the bedroom.

Jack placed the tray on the nightstand and looked down at the sleeping linguist. He looked angelic, well, all apart from the snot induced snoring and the trickle of dribble leaking from the corner of his mouth.

Yup, sleeping the kid looked like that ten year old he acted out like on occasion. Jack had a sudden pang and remembered bringing Charlie the same meal when he'd been ill like this. He pushed it to the back of his mind and sighed before gently shaking Daniel's shoulder.

"Danny?"

"Go way," came a sniffled reply.

"Danny, its lunch time, come on, you should eat something." Jack tried a little more persistently.

Daniel huffed before dramatically rolling over and towing all the bed clothing with him. No wonder it looked like a hurricane had been through the bed when the kid got up in the morning.

Jack spotted his chance and swiftly smacked the now pajama clad behind.

"Son of a bitch," came the yelped reply as Daniel sat bolt up right in bed with blood shot eyes and hair all over the place.

"Language, kiddo," Jack chided playfully.

The younger man relaxed slightly and eyed Jack with caution, "I was sleepin'," he mumbled into his fists as he rubbed his eyes.

"I can see that, Danny. Come on, eat up, I bought your favorite." Jack deftly waved the tray under his friend's nose.

Daniel cracked an eye open now rubbing his head with one hand, "Oh cool, Jack, thanks."

Jack smiled and ruffled his friend's hair, "No prob, kiddo. You feel any better?"

Daniel managed to slide back and lean against the bed as Jack quickly arranged some pillows for him. "A bit, yeah."

"Okay, that's good. Don't forget to take the pills," Jack smiled, turning, ready to go and get his own lunch.

"Jack?"

Jack turned back, he knew that kind of question, guilt was getting the better of his friend.

"Yes, Danny?"

"About earlier…I-I'm sorry," Daniel's eyes had wandered back to food he was once again prodding.

"I know, Danny," he nodded and smiled kindly.

Jack received a smile back for his trouble, which made his heart feel a little lighter.

"You do know your still grounded though, mister and we haven't finished our chat by any means," warned Jack with promise written on his face.

Daniel winced and sighed with resignation, "I know, but I'm still sorry."

"Me too, Danny, me too."

Fin

(Well, this bit anyway ;))


	9. Chapter 9

Sorry this ones been so long!! Hope you enjoy and Happy Holidays folks, all be it belatedly. hugsx

* * *

Daniel sat on his bed at home, at Jack's place. It certainly felt more like home than anywhere else he'd lived for a very long time now.

He sighed deeply, the team had experienced an intense few months with the missions that they'd been on. Not only had an Alien morphed into another Jack and then the man's dead son, but not a week later, Jack had been infected with nan-ites that made him age. Daniel had thought he'd lose the older man forever. It had been one of the hardest things in the world to leave his make shift father on that planet, thinking he'd die there, alone. It made Daniel realise how much he needed Jack.

When he'd come back and he'd slowly de-aged, SG1 had been able to take some down time and the opportunity to do some much needed bonding. Amongst other things, Jack had taken Daniel to see his first ever live hockey match. Sam had opted not to come and Teal'c had sensed that this was some what of a special event for his two teammates and had tactfully made his excuses.

They'd had a wonderful time. Jack ensured his friend had every experience, from the numerous hot dogs and popcorn to buying him a t-shirt with the Avalanche team logo on it.

And then they were back to normal, another planet and another disaster as far as Daniel was concerned. Less than a week before, he'd been forced to destroy one of the only technologies to date that looked like it had any chance of saving his lost wife and Ska'ara. Not only that, it was at his own hands and he was ordered to do it by Jack.

Jack, for his part had become a lot more overbearing since the latest set of events, especially seeing a copy of his real son being dangled under his nose and knowing it wasn't him hadn't helped. It cranked Jack's fatherly instincts up to a near deadly level.

Hence Daniel's current predicament. He'd been back from the last mission for a little over a day and they'd only just got out of the mountain. Jack had given him all manner of hard stares, avoided him, shouted occasionally or just plain given him the silent treatment in that time.

Yeah, he'd been kind of relieved it had all turned out okay initially and even agreed for Daniel to try and go back to the planet at some point, but the longer Jack had had to think about the whole disastrous episode at the end, the more his annoyance with Daniel had increased and Daniel knew it.

Daniel looked at the walls that now held some of his beloved pictures of his first home, Egypt. His artefacts now dotted around the furniture and some special books lived on the shelves that he'd chosen for this room. Other things that he loved were now placed occasionally around Jack's house too. Here and there, in the places Jack tolerated anyway. Jack never interfered in Daniel's room, this was his place. It housed his furniture, was decorated the way he liked it and Daniel could shut himself away here when he needed to be alone.

The issue he had at the minute though was that Jack could shut him away here when he needed to as well and these times sucked, big time. Daniel threw himself backwards heavily onto the double bed and cursed himself.

God he was stupid sometimes, he knew damn well he was pushing it, but he and Jack hadn't had a real run in for months now, not since his last outburst and he really didn't want to think back to that, not right now, it made him wince and twitch.

He thought back over the eventful mission, he remembered he must have started to get on Jack's nerves from the outset; he certainly had General Hammond's…

Daniel had found footage of the old tests for the gate in 1945, Jack had obviously seen them and as usual questioned Daniel's never ending enthusiasm of anything old, but when the vintage film had revealed a man going through an open wormhole in an old fashioned diving suit, both parties had awed in amazement. The scientists had succeeded in manually opening the gate to another planet all those years ago and nobody, until now, even realized.

The next morning, Daniel had managed to leave the house without Jack, claiming he had some errands to carry out and he'd meet the older man at the mountain. Jack had no reason to question that, Daniel had his own life after all, that's just how Jack wanted to keep it, with Daniel actually having a life!

But instead of the jobs he'd professed to need to carry out, Daniel had made his way to Catherine Langford's house. She was the only person that Daniel knew of that would know more about the Stargate and its history since it was dug up in Giza than anyone else he could think of. She even had the amulet that was found near the dig site, 'The Eye of Ra' that he'd first taken to Abydos with him.

He'd nervously waited in the kitchen, adrenaline pumping through him. Things like this never failed to enthuse him to the point of making him nearly drunk with anticipation.

He had to admit that Catherine was a little taken aback to see him, she was one of the few that knew the truth of him living on Abydos, but would never have known he'd returned. Daniel wasn't allowed to go and speak to her, it had been classified information and could only serve to get them both into trouble, (Jack had been very adamant about this on his return). As far as everyone else was concerned, he was dead with the rest of the Abydonian's.

After some minor scolding from Catherine regarding Daniel's suspected secondment into the military, Daniel had managed to get onto the subject of the experiments that had been carried out in the war, feeling convinced that she'd know that they had actually managed to dial another planet and hoping she could answer the question as to why they stopped so abruptly when they did.

Catherine did know of the testing, but only via a third party that happened to be her then fiancé. She herself was only twenty-one at the time and although her father was also working on the project, she was never allowed to have any part in the top secret work. Earnest had, by all accounts, discussed some parts his work with her, but that was as far as it had gone.

Daniel was puzzled that she hadn't pursued finding the detailed footage of the experiments after they stopped, but she was unaware of their existence and so it seemed was everyone else who'd been involved with the Stargate project to date. What was even more shocking was that she didn't know that the gate had actually been activated at that point in time too.

Daniel on hearing this confession had gnawed fleetingly at the inside of his mouth, knowing that he was going to be breaking some major rules now, but he felt it was justified and he'd just have to make Jack and the general understand that after.

"Then there is something more you should see," Daniel had offered, trying to answer Catherine's now very confused look. He reached into his jacket and removed the forbidden and up until days ago, highly classified, tape from his jacket slipping it into Catherine's VCR.

"Here, watch this," eyes going wide as he indicated as the television flickering into life and revealing the footage of a figure stepping through the open wormhole.

"Oh God," Catherine gasped, unable to comprehend what she was seeing.

Daniel was surprised by her reaction, but knew he needed to ask her if it was who he thought it was.

"So the man who went through the gate was...Ernest?"

"Yes. My father must have lied to me. He said Ernest died in an accident an explosion…"

"Why would he do that?"

"He probably thought he was protecting me."

"From what?"

"From knowing that the man I was supposed to marry chose to risk his life and go through the Stargate without even talking to me about it. He chose his idea, his work over me."

"I'm sure that he believed that he would come back."

"He was so young, so full of passion, like you. You reminded me of him when I first saw you. That's why I knew you would solve the mysteries of the `gate."

"Catherine, I wasn't supposed to show you this. Actually I wasn't supposed to show you any of this but now..." Daniel pulled out the pictures, unable to stop himself any further. He knew he'd be in deep trouble, but this was important. Catherine needed to know.

"Computer enhancements - from the film footage, I was able to isolate the chevrons that were locked in before Ernest went through."

"Not Abydos?" Catherine looked puzzled. She had no idea that the military along with Daniel's help and discovered how the `gate could dial to other planets.

"No; another planet, with similar co-ordinates. And we can go there."

oOo

Catherine and Daniel were standing in the briefing room when General Hammond stormed into the room, flushed with anger and a deep frown marring his face.

"Have you completely lost your mind?! Who authorized you to reveal classified information to a civilian?" he demanded.

"If you will just let me explain…"

Daniel didn't get far in his explanation when the General suddenly cut in, still in a deep state of rage. "This is a serious breach of protocol. These rules exist for a reason, Doctor. Do you think that you are above them?" The commanding officer's eye's glistened with annoyance and promised retribution as Daniel spluttered his reply.

"No, no, I…"

Just then, Jack and Teal'c walked in.

"Catherine!" Jack greeted her with a warm smile.

"Hello, Jack."

"It's good to see you again. I trust the General's making you feel right at home." Jack continued, grinning from ear to ear. General Hammond, for his part, looked like he was about to bite someone's head off and then spit it out in tiny, little pieces.

"So far he sounds worse than General West." Catherine added.

"Ah, he's a teddy bear," Jack quipped.

"Colonel O'Neill, did you authorize Dr. Daniel Jackson to reveal classified information to this civilian?" The General asked sharply, not the least bit amused with their bantering.

"Absolutely not, Sir," Jack turned a pointed look in Daniel's direction. Daniel squirmed unconsciously under the hard stare. "In fact I advised him NOT to say anything to her." Jack continued to glare at him meaningfully. Daniel squirmed a little more.

'Boy, he was in for it this time.' Daniel thought to himself. But Jack's next words kind of eased his worries a little, "despite the fact that she used to run the entire program, and is responsible for most of our current knowledge about the `gate."

Maybe Jack didn't completely disapprove of what he'd done? Hopefully he wouldn't be so mad and chew him a new one later. He really couldn't keep this from her. If Ernest was still alive and stranded somewhere out there and there was even the slightest chance they could rescue him, then she had a right to know.

"I am aware of who she is, Colonel." Hammond's angry retort broke into Daniel's musings. Nervous, he looked around, "Catherine, this is Teal'c. Teal'c, this is Catherine." Daniel introduced, in an attempt to lighten the tense atmosphere.

"Daniel has told me all about you, such a pleasure." They shook hands and Teal'c bowed his head in respect.

"Colonel, are you aware of the request Dr. Jackson has currently tangled?" Daniel winced. Oops, the distraction hadn't quite worked.

He chanced a glance at Jack. "You've got to go that one step further, don't you?" Jack warned pointedly, with a forced grin on his face.

Daniel squirmed nervously in place before quickly averting his gaze from Jack's penetrating stare and turned to the General instead. "The man who entered the Gate in 1945 was Catherine's fiancé. Now I have the address of the planet he went to and we can go there."

"And I'm coming with you." Catherine added.

"General, we know where Ernest Littlefield went. He could still be alive. A man who had the vision to see the Stargate for what it really was a half a century before anyone else," Daniel added.

Jack's lips curved ever so slightly, "He sounds like a bonafide' American hero, Sir."

Just then, Sam walked in. "Sir, there may be another reason to go to this planet."

"Samantha!" Catherine beamed.

"Catherine!" Sam beamed back and the both wrapped in a tight hug.

"Captain Carter." General Hammond prompted.

"Yes sir. It seems the planet in question is close to Abydos, so it uses many of the same points in space locators, which explains why the team in `45 could conceivably dial in with out compensating for planetary shift. But, Sir, the planet in question is not on the cartouche we found on Abydos."

Catherine was puzzled. "What's the significance in that?"

"The Goa'uld hasn't charted it. They may not even have been there." Sam explained.

"If the Goa'uld hasn't been to this plant, and there is obviously a gate there, then we would have unquestionable proof that they didn't build the Stargate's," Daniel added hastily, wanting to convince the General of the value of this mission at all costs.

"The Goa'uld are scavengers. Since they have not travelled to this planet, we could find technologies to use against them," Teal'c pointed out.

Catherine smiled, "You speak?"

"When it is appropriate," Teal'c turned to her, the slightest hint of a smile coloring his features. Catherine's smile broadened.

"Thank you. Thank all off you for your very thorough analysis of the situation, but I was already convinced by Dr. Jackson's initial argument. Ernest Littlefield could still be alive, and we should try to find him." The General addressed everyone, with sheer determination showing in his voice.

Daniel sagged with relief at hearing the General's words. The man deserved better for his efforts than to just be forgotten and left to die in some distant planet with no means of ever coming back home. It was bad enough Ernest had probably been stranded there for the last fifty years, if he wasn't dead already. Daniel certainly hoped not, for Catherine's sake, as much as for Dr. Littlefied's own.

But things, as usual, didn't go completely as planned. They managed to dial the planet and could indeed find Earnest, in the deserted, long abandoned planet, sheltered in a derelict, run down building that looked as though it had seen better days. The man had apparently been on his own for the last fifty years. Completely alone, with only his thoughts and memories to keep him company.

The building turned out to be one of their major problems in the end, it seemed it had started to collapse long before they got there and the whole thing was falling apart alarmingly quickly now.

To top it all off, the structure stood right at the edge of a cliff, below which raged a very impressive ocean. And to make things even more appealing, the planet was hit by very potent storms every year and that building was just in no shape to withstand such extreme weather conditions any longer so they would have to make a hasty retreat before the whole thing fell down. Of course that shouldn't have been a problem as they hadn't been planning on staying there long. They would simply retrieve Dr. Littlefield and then be on their way. Or at least, that had been the initial idea.

Jack of course had wanted to leave the place as soon as possible until the storm had passed and everyone else had agreed. Everyone, except Daniel. "We have only begun to explore this place. Figure out what it is, what it used to be." Daniel had argued.

"We launched a survey balloon. Now let's take the professor and Catherine home, we'll leave the probe here, let it monitor the situation, until the storm blows over, then we'll come back. Alright?" Jack had explained.

Ernest had looked at them confused, "I tried for years to make it work."

Daniel had turned to him with a puzzled look of his own. "You never tried to entering different glyphs in this thing?" Daniel had got up and gone to the DHD. "We call this the Dial-Home-Device. Basically you enter the correct address and..."

"Daniel," Jack had cut in, "why don't we just show him." All of SG-1 had walked up to the DHD. A look of shock then had come across their faces as they'd looked at it. The DHD had been smashed to pieces. The thing had been completely destroyed so they had no way of going back home, unless they figured out how to make it work again, or came up with an alternative way to power up the gate. Whichever came first.

"My, God." Sam had gasped at the sight. The Red ball in the middle had been shattered.

"What the hell?" Jack had stared at it with an equally as stricken look on his face. "I thought the probe was supposed to detect stuff like this?"

Sam had turned to him, a dumbfounded look of astonishment, confusion and shock all mixed together still marring her features. "We got visual confirmation of its presence, but the damage was obviously concealed." Sam then had tried to enter in glyphs, but nothing had happened. The thing was dead. "It's not working."

"It was like that when I got here." Ernest had added.

Catherine had turned to him at that, a look of sorrow coming over her face.

"That's why you never came back."

Ernest had just nodded wordlessly; then turned back to the rest of the team. "Does this mean were not going home?" A look of fear had come instantly over everyone's faces, but SG-1 had got down to work, trying to figure out how to get the gate to work again. Daniel and Jack had been looking around while Sam and Teal'c were working on the DHD. Catherine and Ernest were reading the journal when suddenly Earnest spoke. "Well, since we're going to be here a while," he got up and walked over to Daniel. "I would like you to see something."

"What?" Daniel asked, puzzled.

"Come on, it's the safest room there is, you know, especially in a storm." Daniel had followed him with Jack and Catherine walking right behind them. That's when things started to get a little bit more complicated.

They walked into a dark, dusty old room with a covered pedestal in the middle. Ernest took the cover off, revealing what looked like a miniature DHD but without the glyphs. With a touch, writing appeared on the walls. It appeared to be four different languages from what Daniel could make out.

Jack looked around slightly intrigued. "What is this place?"

Ernest opened his journal and handed it to Daniel. He started to read. "I believe this room is some sort of meeting place, where four alien races denoted by the symbols and distinctive writing on the walls gathered, possibly to share knowledge, or discuss relations, like a United Nations of the Stars… Catherine agrees." Earnest trailed off.

Daniel then lifted his gaze from the journal.

"You're right. I would have." Catherine nodded, smiling.

Jack stared at the pedestal, screwing up his face in thought, "This looks familiar."

"Touch it." Ernest urged. Jack put his hand on the red ball. A bright yellow light then suddenly shot up to the ceiling and a bunch of different light balls floated around the room above their heads.

Everyone was more than a little awe-struck. The sight was just simply beautiful and truly amazing.

"Daniel, does this mean anything?" Jack asked.

"Well, if this was a Mecca of sorts, an alien 'United Nations', this has to mean something."

Jack pointed up at one of the glowing balls hanging overhead. "I know this."

"Of course, high school chemistry," Catherine pointed out.

Daniel took a closer look and finished their thoughts for them. "One proton, one electron, Hydrogen," and with that, they started enumerating each of the elements represented by the glowing balls in the ceiling and the wheels started turning madly in Daniel's head.

"These images are graphical representation of the basic elements: electrons revolving around a proton. The number of electrons indicate the element," he blurted, babbling as the words spilled from his mouth faster than his brain seemed to be able to compute.

As the rest of them continued on with the conversation, Daniel's head continued putting the piece's together as he strived to figure this latest riddle out. "The basic elements are what make up the universe; they are the basic building blocks..." His eyes grew impossibly larger as realization suddenly sunk in, his heart starting to beat faster and faster with the euphoria of this new discovery. "Of course! How do you ensure universal communication? You reduce the method of communication to the most basic element; common to everyone and everything that exists in the universe! Jack, this is a true universal language!"

Daniel turned his wide, blue eyes full of fascination, bewilderment and passion, a zest to know more, learn what hidden secrets and mysteries this new finding may hold.

Jack stared at him and taking a look into his eyes, Jack knew, they were in trouble.

"Turn the page." Ernest voice intruded into Daniel's ecstasy.

"Turn the page," He repeats in a louder voice laden with exasperation. Daniel then went up to the pedestal and put his hand on the red ball. Another yellow light shot up and the image changed, a new set of brightly colored spheres materialized over their heads.

Daniel's eyes grew even larger as he turned his attention back to Earnest. "Are you saying, that this, that this is like a book?"

Ernest nodded. "I tried to read it. I tried to understand it."

Daniel gaped in wonderment at the hovering balls in the ceiling. "A hundred and forty six elements, letters, or symbols, if they're letters, if they're pictographic, I mean this could take a life time."

Earnest smiled sadly. "More."

Daniel kicked himself. "Oh, sorry," Sometimes Daniel wished he could just keep his mouth shut.

"Daniel, before you head explodes, may I remind you that we have more important thing to deal with right now?" Jack interrupted looking truly exasperated.

Aghast, Daniel turned to Jack. "How can you say that, don't you know what this could mean?"

"Actually, no," Jack interjected in a more annoyed tone.

Now it was Daniel's turn to be exasperated. "This could be the key to understanding our existence, everyone, everything's existence."

"The collaboration of these four alien species," Earnest added with a tiny smile.

"None of which would mean squat, if we don't get out of here." Jack snapped, returning Daniel's hard glare head on. Now it's when things were going to get interesting, Jack guessed, the moment he'd seen Daniel's face light up with fascination and then the state of over-hyperness set in his young brilliant archaeologist. He'd known he would have to drag Daniel kicking and screaming out of this place and if it came down to it, that was exactly what he would do, Jack vowed to himself.

~o0o~

Some time after the realization that things weren't going as planned at the `gate, Sam, Jack, Teal'c and Catherine came back into the map room. Daniel was trying desperately to video as much as he could of this amazing store of knowledge.

"This is useless, it's not allowing for any relative perspective. I don't understand, how did you incorporate the three dimensional nature of the information?" Daniel screwed his features up as he tried to further decipher the information before him.

"Look down." Earnest offered.

"Of course! You measured the elements from a central point, degrees from zero around in a circle, and height above the floor." Daniel looked on in ore before noticing his colleagues walk into the room, a look of concern maring their features.

"What's up guys?"

"Step away from the pedestal Daniel." Jack stated flatly.

"What? Why?"

Sam stepped in, attempting to defend her Co's actions, "The dial home device just fell through the floor into the ocean."

Daniel blinked, looking confused, "So what are we going to do?"

"That thing may have a power source in it that we can use to get the gate working." Jack offered, pointing at the pedestal

As realization of what Jack had said sunk in, Daniel looked horrified, "Ah...No! You don't understand, this book could contain knowledge of the universe. I mean this is meaning of life stuff...I have to get more of it down on paper before we leave, there must be something more you can use. What about using energy from Teal'c's staff?"

"It's not powerful enough," Sam stated with regret.

"Please, there's not much time, we have to get inside that thing." Catherine interjected, trying to redirect their main concern to getting home.

"This whole place could join the DHD at the bottom of the ocean any minute, so, please." Jack's concerns and annoyance joined Catherine's worried tone.

"Great, shoot it!" Daniel exclaimed, walking away.

As Teal'c raised his Staff weapon and shot at the pedestal, nothing happened.

"Now what?" Daniel asked, looking slightly relieved.

Concerned that they may never get off this God forsaken rock, Jack made a suggestion sure to clue his teammates in on his on going 'dumb act'.

"I'm obviously no scientist but, uh...couldn't we use that Ben Franklin thing?"

On Jack's suggestion, Sam's brain started to turn…They could rig something and direct the power of the lightening to the Stargate. And that is exactly what they did, while Earnest and Daniel were left to look for a while longer at the map room.

~o0o~

When everything was rigged up and things were starting to look extremely dodgy as far as any of them making it back from this planet due to the building falling apart. Jack got Catherine to go and round up Daniel and Earnest. He suspected that she may have more luck in that direction than he would after his earlier attempts to prize the kid away from the pedestal thing.

~o0o~

Catherine returned back from trying to convince Daniel to come up, ready to leave and found Earnest.

"Daniel won't come up; he's obsessed with that thing. So much like you used to be," she stated sadly.

"Umm, 'The Torment of Tantalus'." Earnest nodded.

"What?"

"Tantalus was a king in Greek Mythology, banished to Hades, forced to stand in water that receded when he tried to drink."

"Everlasting, unending temptation," Catherine considered thoughtfully.

"He was reaching for something that was… um, out of reach."

"That sounds familiar. Some might say that, that's what makes a man great. If we all accepted what was with in our grasp." Catherine was trying to understand her fiancée's drive and Daniel's apparent obsession too.

"Sometimes what we have is of more value. It takes a great man to recognize that. I didn't. I was a fool." Earnest offered as if trying to convince his long lost love that his obsession was over.

"Ernest, you have suffered enough. No more wasting time in the past, right?" Earnest nodded, giving a small smile and lifted his diving helmet from the floor, offering it to Catherine.

"Ah, look, for the peak of the roof, it will attract the lightning."

"You get Daniel." She smiled as they headed in opposite directions. Earnest had confirmed his long lasting love for Catherine with those few words.

~o0o~

As Earnest entered the room, he can see Daniel standing before the pedestal, completely absorbed in the information before him.

"You have to come, now," the older man tried to encourage hastily.

Daniel looked up, "Not Yet. Come and get me when they've got the gate running."

"There's not enough time." The older Doctor pleaded.

"I have to finish this.".

"It's not worth it."

"This is."

"Nothing is!" the older man nearly shouted with exasperation. He'd been trapped here for a life time and knew nothing was worth that.

"Well our history as a people would be very different if everyone felt that way," Daniel retorted, trying to defend his decision.

Earnest collected himself, knowing he had to get Daniel to come with them. "No prize is worth attaining if you can never share it, there would be no point. Believe me, I know."

"What you did was courageous!"

"What I did was stupid." Earnest stated with surety.

At that point, Jack came storming in, glancing between the two men and states the obvious. "Come on boys we got to go, now!"

"I'm staying." Daniel says flatly.

Jack's brow furrowed in reply to his friends statement, "What?"

"Look I will be fine down here."

Jack looked questioningly at Earnest before waving him away. He was only one that could sort this out now.

"Go on, go on," Ernest ran on the stairs, he'd done all that he could.

Jack turned his attention back to his friend turned son. "Daniel, we can come back." He couldn't risk losing him, not like this.

"No, what if the castle crumbles around the gate, I mean, this, this could all be lost. If I stay, I could unbury the gate again."

"What if it falls into the ocean?"

Daniel looked on, not willing to bargain with his friend. "I'm willing to take that risk."

With that self destructive statement, Jack's patience for the situation had ended, he didn't have time to convince his young friend and so decided to take things into his own hands.

"I'm not! Let's go!" he shouted. Enough was enough after all. The colonel grabbed Daniel, pushing him towards the stairs.

"Jack!" Daniel pleaded, trying to pull away before they stopped at the foot of the stairs. "Please."

Jack unbelieving of the situation he found himself in, let go, fear visible in his eyes as Daniel returned to the pedestal.

But against all the odds, the younger man looked up at the elements, grabbed the journal, and then ran up the stairs after Jack.

~o0o~

Approaching the room with the gate in it, Daniel could see Sam still waiting and Jack telling her to go. Jack turned, spotting Daniel coming, but not before the ceiling has started to fall in, nearly crushing them with debris. Terrified, Jack grabbed Daniel and they finally made it back through the Stargate.

~o0o~

The ride home had been a silent affair and when they finally got back, Daniel seemed to sense something, for he quickly excused himself and made for the stairs. Jack wouldn't let him get away that easily. Not this time. "Where do you think you're going, Daniel?"

Daniel stopped dead in his tracks. "Umm… to bed?"

"Not, yet." Jack pointed at the couch next to him. "Sit. We need to talk."

Daniel opened his mouth to argue, but one look at Jack's face convinced him otherwise. Reluctantly he moved away from the landing and did as told, head slightly bowed, obviously suspecting this was a chat he wouldn't particularly enjoy.

The two of them sat in uncomfortable silence for a moment, Daniel squirming under the Colonel's intense gaze before Jack finally broke the silence. "Do you realize we could've all died today?"

Daniel squirmed some more, "I didn't ask you to stay, Jack." Daniel winced as soon as the words left his mouth, knowing that hadn't been the wise thing to say. He risked a fleeting glance Jack's way and sure enough, those hadn't exactly been the right words. If looks could kill, then he'd be off rotting somewhere at the moment and the deceivingly calm voice that followed soon afterwards did nothing to appease his nerves. That's it. He'd done it. He'd managed to piss Jack even more than he already was. Well done Jackson.

"Do you really think we - that I would've left you in a crumbling building with no way of ever coming back home, maybe to die alone on that Godforsaken rock for whatever crap you could learn from that dusty old pedestal thing?" Jack's voice rose incrementally with each word until he was practically shouting.

Daniel didn't even get to so much open his mouth to reply before Jack was bellowing into his face, "Well I wouldn't! None of us would! Because no one gets left behind, Daniel and you know that! We are a team, which means we stick together."

"I—I just. I thought…"

"No, you didn't think. That's the problem! You just decided you'd do what you wanted completely disregarding orders. You put what you could learn before your own life as you always do and it has to stop, Daniel!" Jack was mere inches from his face now. "Not only did you put your life in danger, but the rest of us as well with your little stunt today!"

Daniel's chin dropped to his chest at the truth behind Jack's words. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to endanger anyone."

Jack stared holes into Daniel. "Anyone other than you, you mean."

Daniel shrugged, "I was willing to take the risk, Jack. It was important." Daniel was adamant, getting all worked up and hyper again.

Jack glared at him icily, "More important than your life?"

"Maybe," Daniel nodded his head stubbornly. "That book could've contained the knowledge of the universe. It could've held the answers we've been looking for, maybe a key to how to finally defeat the Goa'uld, Jack. Don't you understand? That pedestal was far more valuable than my life."

"There's where you're wrong, Daniel." Jack spoke in a barely audible whisper. "I really don't give squat for what you could've possibly learned from that thing, Daniel. You are by far more valuable to the SGC, to me, than whatever knowledge you could've gained from that thing. We need you alive, not some dusty old alien book that may or may not help us uncover the riddles of the universe. You get that?"

Daniel stared, wide-eyed and dumbfounded at Jack, barely trusting his voice to speak, he merely nodded his head in the end.

"I think I've told you already, I won't have you risking your life and disregarding orders whenever you want, especially off world when all our lives are at stake and disobeying an order can very well mean our deaths." Jack levelled a hard glare on his wayward archaeologist. "You know the rules, Daniel."

Daniel immediately averted his gaze, "I know." Daniel said meekly.

"Go to your room now, Daniel." Daniel got swiftly to his feet, wanting nothing more than to escape the deadly glare and put some distance between himself and obviously irate Colonel at the moment, but he didn't get far before the words he most dreaded made him wince slightly. "I'll be up there shortly to finish our discussion."

Daniel swallowed hard at the implication behind Jack's softly spoken words, halting on the landing briefly and subconsciously covering his butt, before quickly resuming his way up the steps.

And that's how he'd ended up where he was now, laying on the bed considering his complete stupidity, all be it for the good of human kind, but he knew damn well that argument wouldn't wash with Jack. It never had so why would it start now?

The soft creaking of the door handle proceeded Jack's dreaded entrance and suddenly Daniel was filled with regret and forboding….life sucked sometimes…

~Fin~


End file.
